Hana Nanashi - Paused
by Kaiimei
Summary: Hana died. And yet, she didn't. Instead, she was born again in a vastly different world where people spit acid, breath fire, and kill casually. And now, Hana is a part of that. But first, she has to actually gain her freedom, to do what she wants, when she wants, how she wants and with whoever she wants. !SInsert !FemNaruto !FemKyuubi - Uploads every other day, 5PM GMT - ON PAUSE
1. Chapter 1

**I'll be honest, reading through this story half a year after starting it...it kinda sucks.**

**I'm not afraid to admit it, but...Hana is way too good at...well, everything. She might as well just be born a goddamn Uchiha or something, then go the way of the Hana from War Dog and getting the Nine-Tails because she could handle it. That way her age would be better off, since in this, she acts way older than everyone else, but nobody questions the fact she's like...12? 13 or whatever?**

**I dunno. Just warning you now, this is definitely, whilst my longest story, not my best work, by any stretch of the imagination. It'll probably be either re-written, or just capped off and forgotten.**

**_Chapter 1_**

* * *

Opening her eyes to see a Kunai held above her left eye, with a drop of red liquid dangling ominously close to dropping, was not quite what Hana was expecting.

Then again, as she traced the arm back to see a swirly orange mask, she could be forgiven for not expecting anything at all. The last thing she saw was the ground coming up to meet her after her parachute had failed to open. 'Oh, come on Hana, it'll be fun!' all her friends said. And, despite her discomfort, she found herself all but dragged out to go skydiving.

Not that she didn't want to go skydiving, she just had a bad feeling. Note to self, never ignore gut feelings again. So, when the ground was but a few dozen meters away, she clenched her eyes shut in anticipation of the pain to come. And it did, like a wall of fire suddenly exploding in front of her. The feeling of opening a dozen full-strength pizza ovens in her face, magnified by a hundred.

But, just as quickly as it started, it stopped, and she opened her eyes to the aforementioned sight of a kunai, which she idly noted was covered in blood, scarily close to turning her into a cyclops. She could hear something that sounded like people talking, involving the man holding her if the vibrations going through his hand were any indication. After a few moments, she felt the hand under her tense and suddenly she was in midair, the kunai dripping the single drop of blood into her eye in the way up.

With nary a moment to even scream, she suddenly felt like she was being turned inside out whilst her eye burned like needles stabbing repeatedly, and for the first time since she arrived in the new world, Hana cried.

* * *

Minato was angry. No, scratch that, he was absolutely livid.

Not even a few minutes after his wife had given birth, his daughter had been taken from Biwako, with her getting a Kunai through the heart for her troubles. Seeing that masked man holding a Kunai less than an inch from his oddly silent daughter's eye was barely enough to hold the man back from bringing a Rasengan to bear against him. Barely, but it did stop him.

The few medic-nin in the room alongside him were deathly still, not wanting to startle the man and bring that Kunai any closer to the Hokage's child.

"Yondaime Hokage." The man called out, his voice deep and commanding. "Step away from the Kyuubi Jinchuriki or your daughter dies." He stated clearly, and Minato clenched his fists, glaring at the black hole in the mask.

"I will kill you." He replied tonelessly, his eyes fixed upon the single eyehole of the mask furiously. Without warning his daughter was in midair and he was moving instinctively, avoiding the Kunai thrown at him and leaping up to grasp his daughter. Upon laying his hand on her, he saw the tag attached to her swaddling and immediately used his Flying Thunder God technique to teleport to a safe location, immediately throwing the swaddling and teleporting again to avoid the explosion.

When he glanced around, he saw that the Kunai he travelled to was in the middle of a training ground, before he focused inwardly, his mind locked onto the seal within one of his safehouses.

Upon appearing, he laid his daughter down gently and, though it broke his heart to see his daughter crying out for him, he grit his teeth and left the room, with a scowl firmly plastered on his features. Right now, he was expecting to be hugging his wife and holding his new-born child. Instead, he was preparing for a fight. He stormed across the safehouse, finding the bedroom quickly and ripping the wardrobe open. As he slipped his arms into his familiar flame-emblazoned Haori, he allowed himself a singular moment to centre himself, even as he grabbed his signature Kunai. Picturing the Hiraishin he inscribed upon Kushina, the Yondaime Hokage used his Hiraishin to get back to his wife, just in time to stop the Kyuubi from killing her. With his arms around his beloved, he then took her back to where his daughter lay crying.

It didn't take any prompting for Kushina to hear her daughters crying and immediately snap out of her dazed state, all but leaping over to the baby and grabbing her, holding her close as though the world itself wanted to take her away. Minato only took a moment to watch before he went back out, arriving at the Hokage rock and watching the tailed beast as it began forming a Tailed Beast Ball, matching it with his own technique.

_'Snake, Horse, Rat, Ram, Zai!' _He flipped through his hand seals in an instant, throwing out several of his Hiraishin Kunai to anchor the technique and bracing himself for the attack, as the Bijuudama reached a massive size and the Kyuubi sent it flying towards him with a flick of its head. As it impacted the barrier, Minato felt the pressure on his Chakra network as the Ball attempted to smash through it, and he flipped through more hand signs and linked the barrier with a Hiraishin Kunai far away from the village, watching it sink away into nothingness.

Less than a moment later a massive explosion dozens of kilometres away erupted, large enough to vaporize the entire mountain if it had hit its target. Locking eyes with the Kyuubi for a second, Minato flashed a furious snarl for a moment before focusing his mind and trying to pick out the location of the Sandaime Hokage to inform him on just what had happened.

Leaping from his place atop the rocky outcropping, the blonde began charging through the forest towards where he felt Hiruzen's Chakra signature, but was forced to a stop when the same masked man interrupted his run, his hand outstretched as though to grab him, inevitably trying to activate some kind of Jutsu or Kekkai Genkai. With a little sleight of hand, Minato threw a Hiraishin Kunai to the side and avoided the grapple, preparing a Rasengan and snagging another three Hiraishin Kunai from his pouch, trapping them between his fingers, all the while the masked man observed him.

"It's too late, the Kyuubi is free, nothing you do will stop that." He intoned in his gravely voice.

"I told you,-" Minato glared at the man, his hand flicking the Kunai out in an array around the man. "I will kill you." And with that, the pair engaged in battle again, the sounds of the Rasengan tearing the area matched by the occasional thudding of Kunai hitting the floor.

* * *

"It's okay honey, shh, everything's fine."

Hearing the red-haired woman try to comfort her was extremely strange for Hana, even more so when she realized just what had happened, and it startled her right out of her childish instinct to cry, while the woman fussed about, trying to clean her blood-stained eye out.

She died.

That was the only logical explanation she could come up with, and unless she was reincarnated into a world of giants, she was just born. She was incredibly glad she didn't remember the actual moment of birth, that could have been...very uncomfortable. As it was, Hana was almost silent as she pondered this, a fact that her apparent mother picked up on, if her worried look and the constant biting of her lip was any indication. To appease her, Hana made vague grabby motions and squirmed about a bit, and it seemed like it worked, as the woman went back to generally cooing at her and adoring her, a fact that, while she found it really disconcerting, she just accepted as her new lot in life.

However, what she didn't quite accept was that, seemingly in the first minutes of her new life, she came within an inch of being blinded or killed. As it stood, she still might be blinded, considering despite her attempts, it seemed her mother wasn't quite able to actually clear her eye out. In another instance, Hana might have been worried about that, but she was far too focused on just what the hell happened to really give a damn.

Without warning, the same man who she recognised as the one to bring her here suddenly appeared, and her mother spoke with him, wrapping an arm around him and drawing him into a hug and kiss, making it clear that he was either an absurdly close friend or much more likely her father. After a moment, where the man seemingly indulged in the contact, the same gut-wrenching feeling came over Hana, but this time she managed to hold her tears at bay, despite her body seeming to want for nothing but to cry, and to be honest she felt the same way, though not from the discomfort.

Hana didn't really have much family left, her parents were already quite old when they had her, and they died when she was a teenager leaving her with no siblings or any family aside from a few cousins that she never really knew or cared about. She had friends, but she wasn't absurdly attached to her. No, Hana's real sadness was the fact that she would never again see her beloved animals. Hana owned several animals in her past life. Those precious few creatures were most of the reason why she had not left her country to go travelling. She could bear to be parted from her beautiful and exotic animals longer than a day.

Not giving her the time to do much more thinking, she felt herself be placed atop something hard and definitely not made for a baby barely out of womb, but considering the oddness of the entire situation she felt it didn't matter much, instead looking around curiously only to spot what could only be called a gigantic fox looking at her. Probably not actually looking at her specifically, but she would be damned if it didn't feel like that giant fox was staring right into her eyes with...fear.

A moment passed as she found her gaze locked to the wide eyes of the monstrously huge fox, before she saw her father lurch as though something hit him, and for a second she swore a giant outline of a demon appeared behind him, but it was gone before she could even fully process what had just happened, and instead looked at her mother, who had some kind of golden chains attached to her back, and they were waving around of their own accord.

Watching them snap out and bind the giant fox was definitely a moment that would be seared onto Hana's brain. Sure, teleporting around was a mind-spinner in its own right, but seeing this normal-sized woman binding a gigantic fox just took the cake. Knowing that it was her mother who could do such a thing definitely interested Hana, but she knew that considering how much she was struggling, Hana would be lucky to survive the next five minutes, let alone however long those chains would take to figure out, if she could even do such a thing.

So when the fox suddenly shrunk to half its original size and a black tattoo appeared on her body, just inside her peripheral vision, it was safe to say Hana was freaked out once again. When she felt something entering her body, invading through something she'd never felt before like a poisonous flame burning through her veins, she burst out crying again, this time in earnest at the searing pain. It wasn't quite as bad as the ending to her ill-fated skydive, but it was certainly more than she was ever used to feeling, and she clenched her eyes shut against the pain.

A dripping on her body and the disappearance of the pain bade Hana to open her eyes, just in time to see the fox disappear completely, and the claw that was currently impaling both her parents along with it, letting both of them drop to the ground, her father remaining still while her mother crawled closer, reaching up to her and drawing her to her chest.

She didn't say anything, just holding her as tightly as she could, and Hana couldn't bear to close her eyes as she watched the life leave her mother as she wept into her chest.

It wasn't long for the Sandaime Hokage to arrive at the scene and find a baby bawling in the arms of her dead mother, her father also dead close by, and he knew from the seal visible, yet swiftly fading, on the child's abdomen just what Minato had been forced to do. What threw the man for a loop though was when he looked upon the crying child's face and saw the tear tracks from her left eye.

They weren't tears of water, but tears of blood...

* * *

**Dun dun duu!**

**Alright, alright, calm down! ****Before any of you ask, I swear I didn't plan on making Hana essentially into her Inuzuka counterpart with the whole 'loving animals' thing. I absolutely adore animals of almost any shape or size...except Sphynx Cats, they just make me uncomfortable, and since this is kind of a Self Insert story she absolutely MUST love animals.**

**I know it's bloody short, but I think that was a perfect place to leave it. Going further would just be a bit of a rush. And I will, in later chapters, explain just what is going on with her left eye, there's gonna be some significance there, trust me.**

_**Fire, I swear, this is what, the 11th story you've released without finishing almost any of them. Grimm Reality was only completed because, as you've told me, you planned the whole thing out anyway.**_

**Hana Nanashi says she's tired, so good night everyone!**

_**I hate you.**_

**Love you too bud.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Long Authors Note at the bottom Boos! Hope ya enjoy!**

_**Chapter 2**_

* * *

The damnable beeping of some infernal machine was what Hana woke up to. Definitely a lot better than at the point of a very sharp and dangerous bloodied Kunai, but still not anywhere on her top 10 list for waking up. Memories of the first night in her hastily dubbed 'New World' seemed to be a terrifying fixture in her dreams, and she had to keep all of those thoughts behind an ironclad shield, for fear that she'd break from the stress and anguish she felt.

It wasn't quite something she could describe, but despite knowing she had another mother, it didn't stop her heart from clenching when she thought about her new mother and how she died only about an hour after meeting her for the first time. The only way Hana could really explain it was that it was some kind of ingrained maternal bond, something that tied her to her mother in a strange way.

She really wished that it had not happened, since despite knowing nothing about her, aside from the fact that she clearly loved her child and would protect her with everything she had, Hana felt pure anguish each time her mind conjured up the image of her mother's crying face as she held her.

Unbeknownst to the now baby-sized woman, Sarutobi Hiruzen was having rather perplexing thoughts of his own. His first, and biggest, was just what the hell happened that night. The plan was practically spotless, Kushina was taken out of the village with nobody being the wiser, and yet during the night, something went wrong, and the Kyuubi got free, forcing Minato to sacrifice his own soul to seal it inside his daughter. He probably hoped that Kushina would survive and be the parent he couldn't, but his wife succumbed to both her extreme exhaustion from having the Kyuubi removed and having to bind it in her chains, mixed with the rather brutal impalement the pair suffered keeping just a single one of the beast's claws from ending their daughter's life.

The seal appeared to be a success, and Hiruzen was forced to be happy for it, knowing that if it had failed, Konoha would have been levelled. But, that wasn't his biggest headache. Almost immediately after the attacks, fingers were being pointed in all directions, with a disturbingly large number ending up firmly aimed in the direction of the Uchiha, on the grounds that they did not aid in the fight against the Kyuubi.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, the old Hokage mentally cursed the occasionally irrational and downright stupid behaviour of the masses. They wanted a scapegoat, and since nobody knew exactly what had happened to the fox when it vanished, they were all too willing to point their fingers at the clan. The same clan that Hiruzen found himself unfortunately forced to play nice with despite the political pressure, if he wanted to accomplish his goals in any case. He could tell only a few people that Hana was the Jinchuriki for the 9-tails, for she would be forced to live the life of a Pariah if it was made public knowledge. However, one woman, who had experience in the other problem he had encountered with Hana, already knew that the girl existed, having been a good friend to Kushina.

He left his office, intent to go hunt down a certain Uchiha for a request.

* * *

"Come on Hana-chan, come here."

The soft voice of her adoptive mother called out to her, and Hana dutifully made her way over to her outstretched hands, feeling a strange sense of weightlessness for a moment as she was lifted up under her shoulders before a hand found its way behind her knees and she was held on her adopted mother's side. The first time she was lifted like that, she froze for a good few moments before just sinking into the feeling, and since then it only got easier to simply forget the painful memories of the Kyuubi attack and just enjoy the feeling of being held and adored, even if it was through an adoptive mother, as the love was still just as genuine.

"Mnh." The murmured noise Hana made didn't slip by Mikoto Uchiha's well-trained ears, and she sighed even as she grabbed some food for Hana to nibble on, still slightly amazed at the girl's quick mind. She was no stranger to prodigies, having birthed one, and she was sure Sasuke would be just as good as his brother, even if he wasn't quite as fast as the little girl sat on her arm. But it was still strange to watch this girl as she looked at everything in the world, almost like she was taking apart everything with her eyes.

That wasn't to say she didn't have much to learn. The first time the little girl watched a clansman walk straight up a wall to start roof-hopping, she was sat staring for a good few minutes, much to Mikoto and Itachi's amusement. What they didn't expect was for the girl to then walk up to the wall and attempt the same. She didn't succeed of course, but the pair would be damned if, for a moment, she didn't actually mould chakra into her feet. What was ever more worrying was that, as she turned around, for a fraction of a second, her left eye was undeniably red.

The pair didn't discuss that though, both having dismissed it out of hand as a trick of the light. After all, what child could possibly awaken the Sharingan at such a young age. Even Izumi Uchiha was several years older when she unlocked her Sharingan during the attack a year ago. Besides, Hana wasn't an Uchiha. At least, as far as they knew.

Giving Hana her snack, Mikoto sighed as she watched Sasuke crawling along, slightly older and bigger than the girl in her arm but behind her in many other places. They had both spoken, but where Sasuke could only speak a few words, Hana could say many, she just never did, preferring to remain quiet and out of the way. Certainly, Mikoto tried to get her to spend time with the other children her age, but she could clearly see that, while she would remain in place and attempt it, she was only doing so for Mikoto's sake, not her own, and the girl actually hated it.

She stopped trying it after the girl toddled over to a corner and just sat there idly fiddling with a puzzle toy, and instead began giving her books and puzzles to enjoy, as it was clear the girl appreciated those more, if the tiny smiles and quiet 'thank you's' were any indication. She was obviously a shy girl, but it made Mikoto's heart warm when the girl smiled at her so honestly.

Hana, during this time, was actually quite happy with her lot in life, nightmares excluded of course. She'd heard as Mikoto and her husband had discussed things within earshot as they assumed she would be too young to remember, so when they both expressed deep interest in hunting down the one who killed the Hokage and his wife, Hana had never hated her age more than in that moment. If she were older, she could feasibly have told them at least who they were looking for, but as it was, if she said anything about a time she shouldn't remember, people would start getting suspicious, and as much as she wanted to hunt down the masked man, she didn't want to risk ending up in a padded cell.

So instead, she played with her toys, experimented with her chakra in secret, and bided her time.

* * *

When she was four years old, Hana got her first official introduction to Chakra.

Having gone through Fugaku and Mikoto's training regimen, she was far more flexible and strong than she could ever claim with her old body. She wasn't a fitness freak or anything in her old life, but she stayed in shape and could pull off a few decently difficult katas and stretches. What she was capable of now though, blew that out of the water and shot it into pieces.

She knew she was stretching far beyond what her body was built for, but only when Mikoto made her do it in front of a mirror did she see just how ridiculously broken she looked doing the splits with her body bent back so her head rested flat against her thigh looking backwards, while her hands rested on her knee. To put it in simple words, she looked like she had broken her back, even though she felt fine. Better than fine, she felt amazing.

But, nothing would ever capture the pure elation and awe she felt when Mikoto introduced her to Chakra.

She was told, in no uncertain terms, that until Mikoto gave her the thumbs up, that she was never, ever, under no circumstances, to use her Chakra without supervision, telling her that it was dangerous and she could hurt herself. The girl had to stop herself scoffing at that since she'd already broken that rule hundreds of times unknowingly with her own self-made exercises. Granted, her exercises mostly consisted of simply swirling her Chakra about inside of her, focusing it on points at random, and trying to move it at will.

It always seemed like, no matter what she did, her Chakra had a mind of its own, wanting to rush about and never stay in one place, a surprising contrast to her rather apathetic and laid back personality. It took her a long time to actually bring it under control and focus it, and the day she managed to channel it to her hands without it fighting back surprised the girl to no end.

On a whim, she stuck her hands out in front of herself, clasping them together and pointing her index fingers upwards, immediately feeling something inside of her hands react, and she snapped her hands apart in a panic, glancing around furtively in case someone noticed what she just did. After that, she toyed around with her new ability, splaying her hands and fingers out in any number of ways with her chakra in her hands, though she only managed to find one other position, placing her hands flat against each other with her thumbs on her pinky fingers, and feeling a similar reaction.

It seemed her nights spent trying to find positions were about to be wasted though, since Mikoto had brought out a little board, and, of the pictures attached, she recognised two of them, apparently they were called Hand Seals, and the two she had found on her own were Tiger and Monkey. There were twelve seals total, but as Mikoto explained, those were only the basic seals, and no they weren't allowed to learn any others.

They, of course, referring to both her and Sasuke. Hana found a new liking for the boy, based solely off the fact that he was the reason she was getting trained now, and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she actually liked him. Since they were training him anyway, her adoptive parents decided that, considering her maturity, she would be responsible with her training and not abuse her new-found abilities.

Of course, using her 'childish innocence' she immediately asked whether she could walk up a wall like the man she saw before, and to say Mikoto was surprised she remembered was an understatement. To Hana though, it seemed obvious. She saw a man walk up a bloody wall, of course she would remember that. She conveniently forgot that she was only a year old at the time, and one-year-olds shouldn't remember things like that.

Thankfully, Mikoto got over her surprise, and begrudgingly agreed to teach her it, but only after she displayed adequate control of her chakra. As if on cue, though knowing her mother it was all planned out, three leaves dropped out of the tree they were gathered under, and she grabbed them out of the air carefully before handing one each to the children, taking the third for herself.

Then, in a move that surprised the two children, she placed it on her forehead and let it go, only for the leaf to remain in place. No matter how she shook her head the leaf stayed firmly in place. That was all the incentive the two children needed, immediately smacking the leaves on their heads and focusing.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, his leaf just flopped to the ground, and as he turned to Hana hoping to see somewhere they would be equal, the young Uchiha found nothing but disappointment waiting there, as Hana stood smugly with her leaf stuck on her head. For all of a few seconds anyway, before her concentration faltered and the leaf fell to the ground. With a shrug, she picked it back up and tried again, ignoring Sasuke's frown as he tried to do the same to far inferior results.

Mikoto was surprised to see her affinity for Chakra control, but she put it down to a mixture of sheer luck and inherited skill from her mother, biological mother that was, as Kushina was always known for having a staggering level of Chakra control, and it appeared as though her daughter had picked up on that.

With a sigh, Mikoto beckoned Hana over after a half-hour, seeing as her control was actually acceptable enough already despite her disbelief, and the pair began going through the routine of learning how to tree-walk, which Hana took to quickly, though not quite as fast as the leaf exercise, which was to be expected considering the differences between keeping a leaf on her forehead and holding her entire body weight at a horizontal angle with nothing but her feet.

That wasn't to say that Hana wasn't capable of doing it. Within the hour she had an unsteady grasp of the whole thing, and was able to walk above her own height up the tree before her concentration dropped, and left her falling. But, considering her age, it was practically the same as a fresh genin learning how to perform a B-rank, or perhaps even A-rank Jutsu the moment they walked out of the Academy.

Adding another question onto the pile, Mikoto observed Hana's constant attempts to climb the tree, compared it to Sasuke, who was quite tuckered out just sticking a leaf to his head, and she frowned. The girl had far too much Chakra for someone of her age, even with her Uzumaki vitality. Considering the amount she would use just to attempt walking up the tree, mixed with the craters she made when she put too much Chakra into her feet, and even a Chuunin would be quite tired by that point, yet she still looked fresh and happy to continue, which she did until Mikoto had gotten too worried that she was pushing too far and called her away from her training.

"Hana-chan, be honest with me, have you been using your Chakra already?" She asked softly, frowning when Hana wouldn't meet her gaze. "Sweetheart, look at me. I promise you aren't in trouble, okay?" She knelt down next to the girl, waiting patiently as she mustered up the courage to actually look at her, though when she did all the girl would manage was a small nod. "Okay, it's alright." She rubbed Hana's shoulder gently. "I didn't want to push you too far thinking you were born with good control or something, okay?" When the girl's eyes lit up in realization Mikoto smiled. "Now, are you hungry?"

Hana smiled happily and nodded, though internally she was still panicking. It was clear Mikoto was observant, since she was a Jonin-level Kunoichi when she was active, and her practice with control was the only reason she could do the leaf trick so easily. The girl was absurdly glad that Mikoto was perceptive enough to notice that it wasn't because she was a prodigy with control, as evidenced when she couldn't control her chakra for the tree-walking anywhere near as easily as she did for the leaf.

That could have ended badly if her husband pushed to train her in things she wasn't ready for.

* * *

"Hana!"

The onyx-eyed boy called out to her, and Hana casually leaned back sideways to watch the black-haired boy jogging over with an easy smile on her face. The Academy was rather boring, though while boring it was exceptionally useful in teaching her about the world she lived in, detailing everything from Geography to heavily-doctored history, from Kekkei Genkai to Dojutsu, and everything in between.

One of the more fun times was the sparring practice. Though she wouldn't admit it, every time she put an opponent on the ground with nothing but her body, it gave her a small wave of pure satisfaction, knowing that, in contrast to her helplessness in her old world, in the new world, she was truly strong. The only opponents she ever struggled against were other Uchiha, and to a lesser degree the Hyuuga, and even then she found victory more often than defeat. While the Uchiha she fought against had the same problem as her in knowing the in's and outs of their fighting style, the Hyuuga she fought against, at least those who had unlocked their Dojutsu, were really quite remarkable opponents.

The idea of being able to see everything around you, with no blind spots, no full 180 degrees of vulnerability, was incredible. More than once Hana found herself comparing the two Dojutsu of the clans, weighing up the pros and cons of each set of eyes. Of course, since she wasn't a member of either clan, she couldn't be expected to know the niches that made each set of eyes unique, but she knew enough to know that while the Byakugan was remarkable, being able to perceive things faster and copy Jutsu just took the biscuit for her. It was a clear advantage both in direct conflict and also in learning. It even covered some of the advantage the Byakugan had by being perceptive enough for lip-reading, nullifying a little of the Byakugan's advantage in perception.

"Heya Sasuke, heading home already?" She said calmly, not stopping her walk, and making Sasuke eye her oddly. "What?"

"I still don't get how you can do that." He muttered, gesturing towards her contorted body when she raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you can ask Okaa-san for lessons if you're that interested. I must warn you, the splits are particularly uncomfortable for men I've heard." She nudged him with her elbow for good measure, smirking at the boy when he shook his head vigorously.

"Nu uh, not happening." he said childishly, and Hana had to resist the urge to ruffle his hair, even if it was damn smooth. Seriously, he barely did anything to it and it was like silk. Not that hers wasn't much the same. For some reason, her hair seemed to stay smooth, even when it got humid. Probably something Mikoto-san had in the hair products they used, but it didn't matter much. "And yeah, I'm done for the day."

"Cool. Let's go then." With not another word Hana turned back to the path, hearing Sasuke following her closely, and she put a more honest smile on her lips, even if it was slightly marred with anger. Ever since Shisui died, the Clan seemed to be getting more and more paranoid, becoming close-lipped around her, and ostracizing Itachi as though he was the one to do it. Even since then, Fugaku had taken a more active interest in Sasuke, apparently abandoning his favoured son the instant he became estranged, and to a lesser degree even taking a heavier interest in Hana herself.

Not that heavier interest really meant much, just more training. Harsher training, too. Since her little aptitude display years ago, she'd been pushed into honing her control, to the point where she could freely manipulate it, and even cast a few weak Genjutsu despite her initially erratic Chakra. But, the cost for that training was that every day she was driven to the brink of exhaustion, as though Fugaku had an exact bar that told him what she could and couldn't take, and made her reach just inches from it before stopping.

However, such brutal training began to seriously pay dividends, as she was able to quickly pick up on using a few basic Jutsu within hours of being shown the hand signs. Her favourite so far was definitely the Fire Release: Flame Bullet. Being able to essentially spit fire was something that never failed to amaze Hana, though she could do without the taste of oil in her mouth every time she used the Jutsu.

And there was no way in hell that Hana was going to just stop. The man was a slave-driver, but he was a damn good one. If he could push her training to be the fastest and most efficient, she'd be an idiot to turn it down. She just had to survive it, and that meant gritting her teeth and bearing it, even if she really wanted to just throw her hands in the air and swear it all away.

Rounding the final corner before the Uchiha compound, something tickled the edges of her senses, telling her something wasn't quite right. Remembering the last time all those years ago that she ignored her gut instinct, she put a hand out to halt Sasuke, looking at the compound with suspicion. Something stuck out at her, something not quite...huh.

No guards.

Where were the guards? There were always at least two Uchiha MP's stationed outside the gate. Even at the latest parts of night the gate was never, ever left unmanned. So what was different today? Her gut feeling had faded, so Hana considered it safe enough to approach, with a confused Sasuke trailing along behind her. "Hana?" he asked quietly, but she waved him off, too focused on the barely open gate to care.

Creeping up to the door, Hana laid a hand on it, smelling a metallic smell that made her eyes water and put her on edge again. With a heave, the door slid open, and Hana's eyes narrowed as she scanned the area before laying eyes on the objects on the ground. Almost immediately her hands rose to her mouth as a face, one she vaguely recognised, looked blankly towards her, the body a few feet away.

It took all she had to not lose her lunch. She had seen blood before, as a training Kunoichi she had more than a few large cuts and bangs, but she'd never seen a corpse before aside from her parents, and she couldn't exactly tell anyone that she remembered that, so she pushed it deep down and left it there. Unbidden, memories of her parents skewered like a horrific human shish kebab came to mind, and she lost the fight with her stomach, losing her lunch at the same time that Sasuke did.

_'Right, compartmentalize. Sasuke is with me, but if the attackers managed to kill even the Jonin-level guards then we won't stand a chance. We should try to find okaa-san, she'll know what to do. Yeah."_

Hana let her panic get the better of her a little, and instead of rationally leaving the compound to flag down help, she took Sasuke's hand and together they ran through the compound towards their home, passing numerous corpses, some of whom Hana recognised, all of whom drove a stake into her heart, and she hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't see Izumo's head, or Itachi's, or...

Before she even knew it, the pair had arrived at their home, and Sasuke all but crashed through the door in his haste, with Hana following a few steps behind him. As Sasuke disappeared into the sitting room, Hana leaned her head in, only to freeze. Itachi was stood there, a bloody blade in his hands, with Fugaku dead beneath him. But, as she turned her vision slightly, she laid her eyes upon the corpse of the woman she had called mother for so long, before her gaze snapped up to Itachi.

Seeing his eye flaring subtly, Hana moved without thinking, ramming into Sasuke and unwittingly laying her eyes straight into Itachi's.

* * *

"Tch."

The sound was definitely unexpected, and Hana opened her eyes to see the familiar houses of the Uchiha clan. Tracking the source of the sound, she saw Itachi awaiting her, a smirk on his face. "Itachi? What's going on?" She asked, confused. The last thing she remembered was walking home with Sasuke.

"This was meant for my brother." He intoned quietly. "No matter. I shall simply settle for you instead." Before Hana could question what was going on, she felt her body move without her consent, walking into the home quietly and laying her eyes on the form of her adopted parents, calmly sat drinking tea and facing away from the pair of them. As she opened her mouth to greet them, Itachi drew his blade and in two swift and merciless strokes, slew the pair of them with no remorse. Hana screamed.

* * *

In the real world, Sasuke was forced to watch as Hana staggered, and he quickly went forward to grab her under her shoulders, supporting her for a few moments before she got her feet under her. When she turned away from Itachi to look at him, he gasped. Her left eye was no longer the beautiful Sapphire blue anymore. It was now the familiar red of a Sharingan.

What baffled Sasuke was the fact that, unlike how a new Sharingan should be with it's tomoe, hers was blank, there were no tomoe, as if the eye had changed colour but nothing else had happened.

"Interesting." The muttered words drew Sasuke's stare from Hana's eyes to glare at Itachi. The man had since sheathed his sword and was looking at Hana like one would a particularly interesting lab-rat.

"What did you do?!" He demanded, his eyes widening when Itachi chuckled.

"It seems, little brother, that our dearest adoptive sister had a secret of her own, all this time." He punctuated this by leaning towards Hana, who was still in shock from the Tsukuyomi he placed her under. "I'm surprised she's even still conscious, though she doesn't seem like she's doing much." As he said this, Hana slipped a Kunai from her sleeve and in a swift move flung it at the man. Unfortunately for the girl, he had his Sharingan activated, and the projectile might as well have been stationary for the speed it came at him.

"Well, it would appear as though my time here is up, and I have no desire to kill two weaklings like you. Sasuke, the little brother who tried oh so hard to chase his big brother. And Hana-" He practically spat her name out, "-the little brat who just couldn't help but get in the way. Perhaps one day one of you will be strong enough to give me a challenge. Till then."

With that, the man Shunshin'd away, and Hana fell to her knees, her eye throbbing and head feeling like an egg that had been cracked open. "Hana." The worried voice of Sasuke sounded out, and Hana raised her eyes to look at his worried face, giving him a tiny smile before the pain in her head became too much and she collapsed unconscious.

"HANA!"

* * *

**Yep, Hana got in the way of the Tsukuyomi, so instead of Sasuke viewing him murdering Mikoto and Fugaku, she had to witness it. While not quite as strong, she still loved Mikoto as a mother figure in her life, and she had a healthy respect for Fugaku. And, there will be an explanation for what's going on with her eye, I promise.**

**Some of you may be thinking this story is moving fast and Hana is super over-powered really early on, and you'd be god-damned right! Hana is gonna be a badass, people are gonna fear her name across the Elemental nations!**

**Next chapter she's gonna inherit a magical Rinnegan and fuse with Kurama, taking over the Moon-Eye plan nad turning the world into one where he is worshipped by all as the true god she is! Muhahaha!**

**Serious talk though, a few things.**

**1\. Hana is going to be scary powerful.**

**2\. The Kyuubi is going to work with Hana, similar to Gyuki and Killer B's relationship, but better! And cuter, because my Kyuubi is going to be awesome, female, and did I mention awesome? She's gonna be an awesome and helpful fox, because foxes are adoration crystallized.**

**3\. Hana is going to be scary powerful. I can't reiterate that enough. If you don't like power-trips, I'd recommend you close the book in this fanfiction and read a different one.**

**4\. Sometimes I'm gonna make mistakes and miss big plot things. I've only ever watched Naruto once, and even then didn't finish it. I haven't watched Shippuden, pretty much all my knowledge comes from Fanfiction and Fandom. I know that Itachi messing with Sasuke is a pretty major thing and he could just perform Tsukuyomi again, but whatever.**

**5\. Hana is goi-Okay, I think you all get it now.**

**6\. Final one. Hana is gonna be making a few original Jutsu, thanks to her scary powerful Chakra control. The first one I have made is...sing along with me, going to be scary powerful. If you want spoilers it's at the bottom of my profile. If you think it's overpowered...too bad! Hana is going to be fucking terrifying to her enemies.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

"Hana."

The girl grumbled lightly, her head still throbbing, and tried to get away from the voice.

"Hana." The voice was slightly louder, and she felt a hand lightly jostling her. All it served to do was irritate her head and make her angry, and she lashed out lightly, pushing whoever was beside her away with a yelp, while she settled back down with her hands on her head. "Hana, please, look at me."

The voice, sounding so broken and sad, was enough to snap Hana out of her pain-induced anger, and she slowly rolled over to look at the red-ringed eyes of her adopted brother, immediately triggering her protective instincts and making her, against her better judgment, stretch out her arms to him. A moment later she had a big bundle in her arms, and she sighed softly as she wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the pain in her head to simply take comfort in the contact. "I'm sorry." She whispered, rubbing his head gently with a frown on her face. "I didn't mean that."

"I know." Sasuke replied, burying his head in the crook of her neck and tightening his grip on her. Resigned to getting no more rest, Hana looked around the room she was in, recognising the hospital even if she hadn't visited it in years. What really threw her for a loop was the mirror in the room, angled to let her see her own face. She had the same features of course, but her left eye was no longer blue, but a rather familiar red, but with no tomoe.

"Um, Otouto, do...you have any idea what this is?" Sasuke twitched when she called him her younger brother, since he was actually older, but ignored it in favour of leaning back to look at her face. Seeing the same red colour he saw before, but lacking tomoe, he frowned and shook his head, staring for a few more moments before going straight back to hugging his sister, who just rubbed his back and stared at her reflection.

Watching through the window, Hiruzen almost didn't want to interrupt the pair, but he knew that leaving something as major as this alone would be a political nightmare. With a polite knock, he waited a few moments before entering the room and raising an eyebrow. Rather than separating like he expected, Sasuke found himself sat cross-legged on Hana's lap, his arms still wrapped around her, both of them looking him. "Hokage-sama." Hana greeted him politely as Sasuke buried his head in her neck again, and he smiled kindly at her, though it was somewhat pained as he let his eyes be drawn to her new appearance.

"Hana-chan. I heard that you were here and that something was wrong with your eye, but it seems that the may have slightly under-sold that, hmm?" Hana just looked at the man in confusion.

"Hokage-sama, I don't particularly see what's wrong with my eye. Certainly, it has changed colour, but it is not a Sharingan as evidenced by the lack of any tomoe..." She stopped when Hiruzen raised a hand.

"Please, humor me. You have exceptional Chakra control, so attempt to funnel it into your eye." Hiruzen said calmly, watching the girl scrunch her face up as she pushed her chakra up, and after a few moments the familiar tomoe began swimming around her eye, first one, then the other two appeared, one after the other, before they stopped in place.

Hana gasped, the visual difference that appeared was staggering. She could see so much, from the tiny skin flakes on Hiruzen's face and the stitching of his hat, to the faint scratches on the door handle and the tiny marks the cleaner left when polishing the mirror. "Wow..." She breathed, and Sasuke looked up to see her Sharingan unlocked. With a frown, he made to get up, but Hana's hand on his shoulder stopped him, and he looked back in confusion. "Sasuke, I don't know much about Sharingan, but if what you just went through wasn't traumatic enough to unlock yours then I never want you to receive these eyes." She then lightened the mood by bumping her forehead against his, while she played with the hair on the back of his head.

When he shifted in place and then gasped, Hana leaned back and smirked at him. His own eyes now sported the single-tomoe of a newly awakened Sharingan, and while Hana wished he didn't have to go through that nightmare, at least he got something from it. Tightening her grip again, Hana pulled Sasuke into her, smirking at his pout and watching it melt away. It was shockingly close to how she probably looked when Mikoto picked her up.

"Ahem." The polite cough of Hiruzen drew the two from their embrace, and for a moment Hiruzen smirked as he saw Might Guy embracing Kakashi, with a sunset and a beach appearing behind the pair somehow. At least, the singular time the man managed to catch his 'eternal rival'. Though they didn't split entirely, Hana did loosen her grip on Sasuke as she pulled back slightly, but remained with his arms wrapped around her torso and sat on her lap. "Well, this is definitely a predicament." He said bluntly.

"You're telling me,-" Hana whined, glancing at the mirror occasionally, "-now people are gonna think I stole it or something."

"Well, you could always wear glasses like the Aburame, Onee-chan." Sasuke chirped in helpfully from her lap.

"Or perhaps use a genjutsu." Hiruzen added. "Though the simplest thing would be to acquire a set of coloured contact lenses. If you wished, you could simply walk around and act ignorant of the issue. Red eyes aren't unheard of, so perhaps you can play it off somehow." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "And as long as you don't funnel Chakra to your eye, nobody would know it was actually a Sharingan."

Hana nodded along, frowning at the end. "I...guess I'll just leave it as is. I don't want to hide a part of myself like that. Besides, I think it looks cool!" Hiruzen chuckled, and Hana had to resist the urge to smirk. Looking down at Sasuke, she smiled a happier smile before something crossed her mind. "Hokage-sama?" The man raised an eyebrow. "W...what's going to happen now?" When he looked at her questioningly, she elaborated. "I mean, where are we going to live, what's going to happen to our p-parents?"

"Ahh. Well, as you two are not yet shinobi, yet officially you-" He pointed at Sasuke, "-are the heir to the Uchiha clan, you both are left in an interesting situation. Hana-chan, as you were an official ward to Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha, an argument could be made that you remain within the clan and take on the Uchiha name. However, considering the unique situation, you have a choice. Either remain within the clan, or become a Nameless, a Nanashi."

Hana raised an eyebrow of her own. "Why would I ever want to do that?"

Hiruzen smiled. "Because you two are thick as thieves, and so even with the Council meddling, you two will never stop being just as close as blood siblings. If it were up to me, the two of you would remain together, but the council always got antsy about the fact that you were chosen to be adopted by the Uchiha, and so they see this massacre as a great way to remove you from their influence, conveniently ignoring that fact that the only Uchiha remaining is your brother, who you will see in the Academy in any case."

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but that didn't answer my questions. Even if I become a Nanashi, where will I live? Where will Sasuke live?!" She tightened her grip unconsciously. "And if you tell me he's staying in that compound for a single night, I will NOT let him go."

"Hana-chan, don't forget that it is Sasuke-kun's decision." The old man looked from Hana's angered eyes to see Sasuke's fearful ones, and his gaze softened. "Sasuke-kun, if you wish you can remain in your home, or you can find a home using a monthly stipend. It has been cleaned and-" Hana interrupted Hiruzen by yelling.

"WHAT?!" The voice was loud enough to startle Hiruzen and make Sasuke squirm in discomfort. "Oh sorry," She patted Sasuke's head gently, "-I just...what? Hokage-sama, making Sasuke choose between staying in the same home he saw...our parents murdered within, and striking out on his own when he isn't even ten years old, I just don't see the logic in that."

"What would you suggest then, Hana-chan?" His brown eyes watched her carefully, and she frowned.

"Well...if I choose to be nameless, the same idea would apply to me, right?" On Hiruzen's nod, she continued, a small smile on her lips. "Then if I find an apartment big enough for two of us, we can both use our stipends for it so price won't be an issue, and everybody wins. Sasuke doesn't have to live on his own, or in the home our parents died in, and we don't have to separate."

"Hmm, that's an interesting proposition Hana-chan." Hana smiled. "The only problem is how the Council will take this."

"Pwwsh, not like they can do much without looking like big bullies, is there?" Hiruzen smirked. "I mean, look at it from a civilian or even a Shinobi stand-point. The Uchiha massacre happens, the two survivors express a wish to live together away from the compound, and the big bad council comes stomping in and separates them forcefully. I'm sure you'll put it more eloquently, but there are a myriad of ways to argue for this, Hokage-sama. And if push comes to shove, we'll live inside the compound, just not in that house." Hana punctuated this by patting Sasuke's head. "Any other of the now sadly empty homes would suit our purposes, and while it would hurt to see those same streets every day, we'd just learn to deal with it."

Looking between the hair, Hiruzen let a warm smile appear on his lips. Internally he was a little worried about the council, but his years of experience clamped that down easily, and he nodded. "Very well, if that is what you both wish?" Two emphatic nods met his question, and he chuckled. "I shall...see to the paperwork then." The knowing look Hana gave him made him laugh softly but genuinely.

"I really feel sorry for you, Hokage-sama. You must go through a lot of paperwork for the village." Hiruzen gave the girl another smile before leaving.

* * *

It was official, her old world could officially and collectively suck a dick.

She went to the hospital for a regular check-up, one she had imposed upon herself after being told by a rather confused medic that there were no regular check-ups, to which she had stared at the poor man for a few moments. Apparently ninja just went to the hospital when there was something serious, trusting their chakra to keep them alive. Then again, considering neither she nor anybody she knew ever got sick easily, that kind of made sense, but they didn't even have yearly appointments!

So, she walked into the hospital, with the receptionist recognizing her on sight from her previous visits and dutifully pointing out which room she was due to go into on that day. Everything was going just normally, she got herself checked out by a medic-nin for any abnormalities, and told she had no pending problems. Until the medic mentioned one tiny little thing.

"Oh right, have the Academy started giving you the pills yet? You'll need them soon." Hana was thoroughly confused when she was asked that, and the medic also looked a little confused when she was confused. "Don't tell me they don't even tell you guys about the inhibitors?" Hana shook her head, and she tilted her head when the medic frowned. "I swear they should have told you about this stuff already..." She muttered, walking away from Hana and rooting through a cupboard.

"Told us about what?" Hana asked from where she was sat.

The medic just continued digging in the cupboard for a few moments before pulling out a little orange pill-pot, vaguely similar to the one which pills she took for her disassociative disorder, putting it in front of the girl. "Okay, so, have your classes covered the Menstrual Cycle yet?" Hana nodded in the affirmative, making the medic growl. "And you say they made no mention of any kind of pills?" Another shake of her head. "...I'll have to talk to Hokage-sama about this. Okay kiddo, here's the deal. These pills will inhibit your period as long as you keep taking them. Just taking them once a month will keep you fit for duty."

Hana's jaw dropped.

No, it didn't drop, it fell from her mouth, rolled out the door and disappeared into the horizon. Pills, that prevented Menstruation, probably the least favourite time of the month for any female, just like that. No more menstrual pads, or mood swings, or cramps. Hana was...pretty ecstatic to hear this, but she couldn't show it outwardly. In this world, a Kunoichi wasn't able to be vulnerable due to it simply being a bad time of the month. So it made sense that they would find a way to get around that. "After...everything they said about the Menstrual Cycle...I thought it was gonna be this debilitating thing we had to deal with every month..." Hana made sure to try and make her voice sound almost fearful of the dreaded monthly time.

"Yeah, apparently Tsunade-sama thought much the same, she's the one who came up with these things, said she was getting pissed off about having to stop and forcibly remove her menstrual symptoms in the field, so she fixed up pills that all Kunoichi could take monthly and stop it from occurring. 'Course, it means you can't have kids while you're on them, but I don't think you should be thinking about that kinda thing now."

Hana shrugged. "Meh, they've covered seduction in the Kunoichi classes. I just don't get why they wouldn't mention it to us." She said with a sigh, lifting up the deceptively innocent-looking pills and smiling. "So, do I start taking these now, or..." She trailed off, and the medic-nin nodded.

"Yes, start taking them now, a single one once a month, and barring any times you might miss a pill, you should only have to deal with your period when you actually want to. Just...don't try to give one to a civilian, their chakra networks can't handle all the intricate little things that pill actually does." Hana looked at the pill suspiciously, making the medic chuckle. "Look, girl, that pill was made...rather, invented, by Tsunade, and it has to stop something the body does every single month once it starts. It uses the bodies chakra network for a few of those things, and a civilian isn't built for it. By the time you need to be worried about taking the pills, you have a strong enough network to handle it with ease."

"So, Chakra bullshit?" She asked crudely, and the medic gave her a grin. At that moment, Hana could safely say that she loved her new world.

"Yep, Chakra bullshit."

* * *

Blinking her eyes open, Hana took a few moments to stretch her arms out in front of herself before she frowned. Her room was still dark, so it wasn't morning, and her alarm wasn't going off. She rolled to the side and looked at her clock, only to huff as the red lines met her. It was still in the middle of the night, so what...

A muffled sob reached her well-tuned ears, and she quickly but quietly got out of bed, shrugging the covers off her body and heading for her door, ears pricked. Another gentle sob and she opened the door, silently placing her feet on the least-squeaky boards as she walked towards the sounds, which were coming from Sasuke's room.

With a gentle sigh, Hana slowly entered his room, creeping across the floor to reach the side of his bed, where the aforementioned boy was curled up with tears in his eyes. Slowly, as to not wake him, Hana slowly got into the bed, before wrapping her arms around the boy and nestling her head in his hair. He was still sobbing gently, so she racked her brain before she remembered feeling comforted by Mikoto's soft lullabies, and she licked her dry lips before shrugging. She never was a confident person, or a good singer in her old life, but it couldn't hurt to try.

_"When the walls come falling down, and there's no one left to save you, when it all just seems so hopeless, I'll be there, I'll save you."_

As she sang, she felt Sasuke tense up slightly and his breathing became uneven for a few moments before he relaxed in her grip and pressed back against her.

_"You don't have to be alone all by yourself, tired of fighting just to save what little's left."_

Feeling Sasuke moving slightly, Hana loosened her grip, only to be pleasantly surprised when he rolled over and wrapped his arms around her. She replaced her own grip and sighed into his hair.

_"Just make a wish upon a shooting star, I'll be there, I'll struggle, just to say I love you."_

Running a hand across his back, Hana kissed the crown on his head softly laying in silence for a few moments. "I love you Aneue."

Sniffling, Sasuke opened his eyes to see the faintly smiling visage of his last remaining family, and he tightened his grip as though she'd disappear when she smiled at him. "I love you too Otouto." She said quietly, feeling him relaxing into her arms and falling asleep swiftly, his night terrors completely forgotten in the loving embrace of his adopted sister, with Hana following him into sleep quickly, her mind calmed by the weight in her arms, as she swore that, above all else, she would never let anything happen to him.

* * *

The next morning, Hana awoke again, her arm numb from Sasuke sleeping atop it all night, but she considered it worth it when he blinked his eyes open a few minutes later and looked at her with adoration, making her heart flutter. She reached out her other arm to ruffle his hair, earning a cute pout. "Hey Chibisuke."

"I'm not a Chibi!" He claimed loudly, frowning when she merely gave him an indulgent smile.

"Well, you're cute, smaller than me, and my brother, Chi-" She poked his head. "Bi-", ruffled his hair, "Su-", pecked his cheek, "ke!" and then pushed him off the bed, following him quickly with hands outstretched.

"HanAHAHAHA!" Sasuke tried, he did so valiantly try to defend himself, but he was no match for Hana's tickling fingers. "H-Hanaaa, stop!" He managed between breaths, and after a few more moments Hana finally relieved him of the tickle assault.

"Sorry Otouto, couldn't help myself." She said, but her smirk gave her away. "And, good morning!" She chirped brightly, and Sasuke couldn't help himself, he smiled just as brightly, admiring his sister's strength. It took him a while to weasel what Itachi did out of her, but when she finally relented and told him about it, he almost lost his lunch that day. And yet, here she was, comforting him when he had a night terror.

He didn't know his sister could sing, nor did he recognise the song from what he remembered of his mother singing, but he loved it, the idea that no matter what, Hana would be there to help him. "Good morning!" He replied, watching his sister extend her arms above her head and making her back crack.

"Well," She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "time for some...'exercises'." The grin and look on her face offset the angered tone she adopted when she said exercises, and Sasuke couldn't help but frown. He tried desperately to do what his sister did, but it always seemed like she was just stronger, more flexible, and better in most ways. It reminded him of his brother, and he hated that anything could draw a parallel between his hated brother and beloved sister. But before he could let that go anywhere, he clamped down on it hard, since just last night his sister swore that she'd always be there for him.

His brother had said that as well, but somehow he just felt like what Hana said was different, like she really meant it. Watching her leave his room, Sasuke felt a little sad, since he was enjoying lazing about, her arms wrapped around him. But his sister was nothing if not determined. And, in all the time he could remember, not once did she deliberately miss training. There were a few times, like when her alarm clock was broken or she was seriously ill, but outside of those outliers, every day, no matter the weather, she would do her exercises, her katas and stretches without fail.

While his sister went to the living room to do her morning exercises, Sasuke dragged himself from his bed with a sigh, trooping over to his wardrobe and slinging his typical outfit on. He considered changing it after the massacre, but decided to just go with what was normal, and what he was comfortable with. Besides, even with their shared stipend, it wasn't like they had money to throw around whenever they wanted a wardrobe change.

Just another reason why he loved his sister. Unlike other girls, or so the young boy had heard at least, she didn't spend much time clothes shopping. She had her typical outfits for sure, but outside of those, she had very little extra clothing, opting for simply getting more of a similar outfit, and rarely anything else. Stretching his arms out, Sasuke worked the last hints of sleep from his system and trudged out of the room, making his way towards the kitchenette, intent on getting some breakfast.

As he walked into the room, he spotted Hana in a particularly flexible stance, and for some reason felt his face heat up slightly at the sight, though he hurriedly took his gaze from her and began going through cupboards, picking out cereal, cutlery and two bowls, before laying them out on their small table and snagging milk from the fridge. The apartment they shared wasn't very large, definitely not as big as their old home, nor as luxurious, but it was where Hana and he lived, and it was home.

Pouring out his cereal and dousing it all in milk, he found his eyes drawn to Hana again, who had moved on from her stretches and was going through a few short katas. Watching his sister in sparring class was always incredible, using her own Taijutsu style to dismantle her opponents. It was strange, for all the scrolls on Taijutsu the Uchiha had, not one of them detailed the strange style she used.

It was similar to the Intercepting Fist style of the Sharingan, in that it stopped the opponent from attacking. But where her style differed was that instead of simply striking before her opponent could do so, her style focused more on deflecting and evading attacks, before using the new opening to deliver punishing blows. Against a Sharingan, the style met its match, as her opponent would see the strike coming and adjust to avoid it, though she was usually fast enough to then counter their counter, which let her stay in the fight and win more often than she lost.

Against pretty much anybody else, including the Byakugan, her style was pretty much untouchable, as no strike could slip past her ironclad defence, and her counter-attacks were definitely not lacking in punch. He still had the faint bruises on his arms from their most recent spar. It was unfortunate that they were the last two Sharingan users outside of Itachi and a scattered few others, since it meant the only way they could practice against another user was by fighting each other. They never let it get between them though.

With her Sharingan activated, however, her style became genuinely unbeatable in Taijutsu. Because of the enhanced visual acuity and perception speed, her deflections and dodges were perfectly timed every time, and her counter attack was absolutely vicious, slipping through even the smallest openings to deliver punishing blows. Ending up on the receiving end of these blows, and rarely if ever managing to get a strike in edgewise, Sasuke knew just how much she outclassed him in skill.

Sasuke didn't let that put him down though, he knew that while he was talented, his sister was on a whole other level, which just made him admire her even more. With a shrug to himself, he finished his cereal, hearing his sister walking over from behind him and he closed his eyes in anticipation. Right on cue, he found her arms wrapped around his neck, and he leaned back to look up at her smiling face as she lowered to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"You know you didn't have to get that lot out for me as well Otouto." She ruffled his hair as she stepped away to sit down, smile still firmly in place.

"I was getting them all out anyway, why wouldn't I?" He asked, mildly confused. "Did you want something else?"

Hana shook her head. "No, cereal's fine, don't worry about it." She said breezily, already pouring out milk and grabbing her spoon. Before she dug in, she pointed it at him. "Don't forget your kunai holster this time, hmm?" The blush that appeared on his face made her chuckle.

* * *

"Team 7 will be led by Hatake Kakashi, and will consist of Haruna Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Nanashi Hana."

Iruka-sensei's voice brought Hana from her reading, and she looked up to see an uncomfortable Sasuke glancing between her and Sakura. Rolling her eyes, Hana nodded, and Sasuke all but leapt away from the pink-haired girl to hide on the other side of Hana, much to said girl's dismay, who decided to take her irritation out on Hana by glaring at her, a fact she ignored easily, far too used to being glared at by certain teachers to ever care.

It wasn't her fault their classes were so boring. Anything that covered stuff her old world did, she just didn't need to care about, and she spent that time doing her own reading, so at least she was using the time productively, unlike some people. She definitely didn't glance at a sleeping Nara boy whenever she thought of that.

"Well Otouto, guess we're on the same team. Funny, I heard somewhere the highest-ranked Kunoichi and Shinobi were meant to be put with the dead-last to balance the teams out. I mean, that idea makes no sense to me, deliberately putting a massive hindrance with the two most prospective genin, but whatever. If I recall correctly, Sakura over there was good academically but sucked physically. I was expecting us to be matched with Shikamaru, considering his grades that is."

"Uhh, Onee-chan, Shikamaru was already claimed." Turning her gaze to Sasuke's onyx eyes, she quirked an eyebrow. "Because of how well their fathers worked together, they decided to make the same team, so he would always end up in the Ino-Shika-Chou formation regardless of his grades."

Oh, right. Haa vaguely remembered a lesson with Mikoto where she told her and Sasuke about the various Konoha clan's and mentioned the tight triplet that was the Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka clan partnership. "Huh, that makes no sense to me, but whatever. I mean really, expecting the children to turn out the same as their fathers is a pretty silly way to view it, but that's just me." An idle thought tip-toed across Hana's mind, and she frowned. "Ne, Sasuke-chan?" The boy turned his head away from the front of the room to look at his sister. "Our sensei was called Kakashi Hatake, right?" When he nodded, ignoring the way she reversed his name as she tended to do that a lot, she smirked. "Well, I think I know why we got him."

Sasuke waited for her to elaborate, but the smirk she put on her lips told him that what she knew was something he'd want to know, and she was holding it back because she felt like it. "Hana-chan," He deliberately used her name, drawing her attention, "If you tell me what you know, I'll...uh..." He bit his lip, trying to think of something he could offer her. "I'll..."

Hana put a finger to his lips, smiling. "Sasuke-chan, I don't think there's much you can offer me that I don't already have." She punctuated this by wrapping an arm around his neck, pulling him into a sidelong hug. With a thoughtful hum, an idea crossed her mind, and a light dusting of pink appeared on her cheeks. "Well, I can think of one thing, but I'm not telling you what it is. All I'll say is, prepare to be waiting for a good long while. Hmm, now that I think about perverted things...hey Iruka-Sensei!"

The man, who was about to leave the last three students in the room, turned to look at Hana with a strained but polite smile. "Yes, Hana-chan?"

"If it's alright with you, considering who our new Ero-Sensei is, can we go get something to eat while we wait?" The look she gave Iruka stopped him from simply telling her to wait, since it was clear she knew what Kakashi's reputation was with times. "I promise we'll be back within an hour and a half." She added with a smirk, and Iruka just gave up and nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with the girl.

"Alright Hana-chan, but make sure you stick to that. If Kakashi gets here and you aren't here, nobody will blame him from refusing to accept you as his team." Iruka said with a pointed look towards the girl, who just waved her hand at him before dragging Sasuke up with her and heading for the door, with Sakura sheepishly following along.

"So Sakura." Hana leaned back, contorting her back to look at the girl. "Got any hobbies? Anything interesting to talk about?" The pink-haired girl seemed surprised Hana was even speaking to her, but she quickly shoved it away and set her face. As she opened her lips to say something, probably involving Sasuke considering her personality, Hana interrupted her. "Hmm, then again, with how much time you spent gazing at a certain someone, I'm surprised you scored as high as you did."

The face Sakura made caught Hana by surprise, and she wished she had a camera right at that moment. Unfortunately, she had to settle for flashing her Sharingan on to capture a mental picture, while she chuckled softly. "What's that supposed to mean?!" The girl yelled, doing her best impression of a siren.

"What that means is that you aren't a damn training ninja any more, you're a Kunoichi, so goddamn act like one!" Hana yelled at the girl, who seemed to only take it as further fuel.

"And how should I act when we've only just left the damn Academy? Newsflash you red-eyed cow, you aren't exactly acting much better than me." Sakura yelled back, momentarily forgetting that Sasuke was stood right next to the pair, looking more and more like the world's most uncomfortable third wheel.

"And you seem to have forgotten that I can afford to be more laid back compared to you, because guess what, I'm the one here with higher scores. Do you think being able to tell five different Kunai apart based on touch alone matters when those same Kunai have already been buried in your eyes, heart, and both hands by someone who trained their reflexes rather than their mind?" Sakura looked distinctly nauseous at the mental image Hana's words conjured ,and the girl wasted no time laying further into the naive girl.

"In our lives, being smart doesn't matter much if you're too slow to avoid getting hit or too weak to tank the hit head-on. Oh, what's that? _'Hana scored highest in all physical tests'?_ Well, would you look at that." Hana's look at that moment managed to cow the girl into submission, and she furtively glanced at Sasuke, who was stood next to Hana with his arms folded, seemingly done with the whole thing.

"Now then, with that out of the way, let's all act like the ninja we are and put this behind us. Sakura, you have high academic scores, but really bad physical scores, and I can damn well see why." When she opened her mouth to argue, Hana glared at her. "Sakura, listen to me. Take a look at me, and then look at yourself, tell me what you see that's different. And no joking around, I'm being serious."

Sakura huffed and begrudgingly looked over Hana and then her own body with a frown. "Uhh, your arms?" She asked sheepishly.

"Okay, let's look at the arms first. Stick your own arm out." Sakura raised an arm, and Hana placed hers next to it. "You see how while they are almost the same thickness, mine are toned and slightly marred, whereas your own, while smooth and not bulky, have very little muscle? You don't do much physical exercising do you Sakura? Outside of class that is."

Watching Sakura shake her head, Hana sighed. "Sakura, you are a Kunoichi, you need to get into better shape. I can already tell you aren't eating well just by looking at your waistline, and don't even start on your legs."

"But Sasuke lik-" Hana looked directly into Sakura's eyes as if daring her to finish another word.

"Sakura, don't. I won't be held responsible if you try to use my Otouto here as an excuse for your own inadequacy." Sasuke nodded slowly when Hana looked at him, and she smiled before looking back at Sakura. "You have your work cut out for you Sakura. You better hope Kakashi can get you into shape because I'll be damned if I let you drag us down."

The look in Hana's eyes scared Sakura to the bone, and she crossed her fingers behind her back as the two walked ahead of her, silently praying that something would happen, anything to save her from whatever Hana had planned.

* * *

**No.**

**Hana is not going to use Sasuke to get an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, she loves him too much to do that to him. Besides, with Kyuubi healing her constantly, her visual acuity probably won't degrade...probably. And even if she did accidentally lose vision in her left eye, she still has her normal Sapphire eye to use. Until a Byakugan awakens within and she's forced into a Caged Bird seal!**

**Nah. She gets the Sharingan but nothing else.**

**Also, I have no idea how to write Sakura into this...I mean, on one hand Hana would bitchslap her for trying to get close to Sasuke by using the Shinobi Academy, but I don't want to just detach her completely. Maybe jealous stalker role...yeah.**

**Final thing, hopefully after chapter 4 I'll be able to focus enough to stop doing these time skips. I mean, all of Hana's life till this point was summed up in under 12,000 words.**

**...Second final thing, I'm quite bad about Japanese Honorifics. Remembering to put -san, -chan, -sama, -kun, etc at the end of certain people's names during conversations just frazzles my mind, so I forget often. Please overlook those, or mention them in reviews, I'd appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_**

* * *

Cleaning her fingers with a few licks, Hana got rid of the last bits of sauce from her delicious Ribs and sighed happily. No matter what, visiting the Akimichi restaurants were always good days. Somehow, the body-size clan never failed to whip up incredible meals for any occasion.

Beside her, Sasuke was still eating his own meal happily, and Sakura was on her other side, slowly picking away at the food on her plate with little enthusiasm. "Sakura, what did I say?" Hana said chidingly. "You need to eat more. Way more."

"B-but if I do I'll lose my figure." She feebly countered.

"Yeah, maybe if you were a civilian. Listen, honey, with how much exercise you should be doing, you could quite literally eat a chocolate cake with every dinner and still stay in shape. So chow down already!" Hana punctuated her words with a light glare, and the girl quickly began eating in earnest. "And try and be fast, while Kakashi is known to be a few hours late, I don't want to risk him arriving before us, that wouldn't go well for any of us."

Watching Sakura eating her food properly brought a tiny, almost microscopic smile to Hana's face, before she remembered exactly why the girl was becoming a Kunoichi in the first place, and her frown came back full force. As she finished her meal up, with Sasuke having already finished, Hana idly flung some ryo onto the table, enough to cover their meals plus a tip, and began walking back to the Academy, throwing a wave over her shoulder at the Akimichi girl who darted over to the table.

Considering Hana's abnormally fast metabolism, she always had to eat at least twice as much as anyone else she'd ever met before, including the Akimichi themselves. So, Sasuke and she worked out a plan. Namely, she would pay for all their food, and he would cover all other costs like clothing. The pair would split their dividends evenly to cover the cost of their apartment as well. With that, they were able to stay afloat handily, with Sasuke slowly accumulating Ryo for the pair to use for luxury items.

As they entered the Classroom again, they cast a quick glance about and, seeing no sensei, the trio settled in for a wait. Sasuke filled the time by alternating between looking out the window and looking at Hana. Sakura spent the majority of her time looking between the pair of them. Hana, on the other hand, spent her time buried nose-deep in her studies.

Ever since she learned about what the fourth Hokage pulled off, the girl found herself drawn into learning both Fuinjutsu and Space-Time Ninjutsu. On one hand, Fuinjutsu could be expanded far beyond just learning that specific type of Ninjutsu. The sealing arts were extremely rare for a reason, they were absurdly hard to learn, but the rewards that could be reaped were immense. On the other hand, a Space-Time Ninjutsu could be, with the right applications, an exceptionally dangerous technique. Already she had a few ideas for her own modifications to existing Jutsu, making them more dangerous, or just in general better, by cutting out unnecessary hand signs and decreasing the overall chakra usage of the technique. Even making her own was not out of the question.

For her time in the Academy, she split her hours three ways. One towards Fuinjutsu, one for Space-Time Ninjutsu, and one for general studies. Now that the Academy had finished, she was able to spread her abilities and pick up learning other things in that time-frame. Thankfully the Hokage had permitted the pair to use the private Uchiha library for their studies, and while the two of them hated entering the compound, the wealth of knowledge available was too good to pass up.

For Hana at least. Sasuke seemed to spend a lot less time studying scrolls than she did, devoting much more time to gazing at her. It was kind of cute in its own way, and it made her heart flutter slightly each time she met his eyes only to see how much he admired and adored her.

She seemed to have a knack for Fuinjutsu, picking up the sealing arts in a fraction of the time that normal Shinobi took, and with far more skill. The Uchiha library was a great boon in that regard, as while they were not Fuinjutsu users, they still studied the scrolls in order to counter them effectively. But while that was so, seals always required being placed before-hand, or used in an unorthodox way. In that field, Space-Time Ninjutsu had the advantage, as it was something that, if learned without a seal, could be used on the fly. Being able to use the Hiraishin without using the signature Kunai would be a massive upgrade to having a need to plant the seals beforehand.

Of course, her father was said to use the Kunai mid-fight, teleporting around unexpectedly, which was how he got his moniker.

Hearing footsteps, Hana tore her gaze from the scroll in her hands to look at the door in anticipation. As it opened, a Shinobi walked in, with silver hair swept to the side, and his headband hanging over his eye, telling Hana all she needed to know. "Hello Sensei." She called, smiling at him, and receiving an eye-smile in return.

"Hmm. My first thought is..." He looked at Sakura and Sasuke. "-you two are boring. However,-" He then looked at Hana again, gazing into her crimson eye, "You are more interesting." he said bluntly. "Meet me on the roof you lot." With that, he disappeared in a stylized Shunshin, hearing swirling leaves in his place.

"I like him already." Hana said honestly, ignoring the groan Sasuke let out. "Alright team, let's go say hello again!"

* * *

"I take it back, I don't like him."

Hana really didn't like their Sensei. She was ready for his lateness. She wasn't expecting his perverseness, but everyone has their outlets, so she wasn't one to judge considering her own wasn't exactly tame, just thinking about it prompting a blush. But, the thing that really got under her skin was just how lazy he was.

He arrived late every day for training, just to give them vague pointers and nudges in the right direction. If she didn't dislike her so much, Hana would feel sorry for Sakura, since it was clear the man was more focused on her and Sasuke. She knew why, his bingo-book entry was literally 'Sharingan no Kakashi', wasn't hard to figure out why with his permanently covered eye. Considering the Bingo-book still listed him as active, it was clear he was just pulled from duty, all to train the illustrious Team Seven.

Not that she would call what Kakashi did 'training' in any sense. He seemed to embody the philosophy of hands-off education, only stepping in if they were seriously messing something up, but otherwise perfectly fine with letting them learn on their own. When she compared it to the tutoring she received from Fugaku and Mikoto, his own teaching was distinctly lacking.

With a huff, Hana got back into form, preparing to run through another set of katas. If her leader was this useless, it just cemented her plan within her mind.

* * *

The bed was damp.

She blinked awake with a sigh, only to jolt upwards when the ceiling above her was nothing like her bedroom roof. There were rusting pipes running all along it, occasionally dripping murky water. She quickly got to her feet, patting herself down only to find that she was still in her nightwear, and with no weaponry available. However she got into these, for lack of knowledge, sewers, she didn't have anything to defend herself with, and she deeply regretted not sleeping with a Kunai tucked somewhere.

Looking back and forth between the two different directions of the tunnel she found herself in, Hana shrugged and picked one at random, setting off at a brisk pace and taking idle sniffs every few moments. Despite how grungy the sewer looked, she couldn't smell anything. Even pressed against the manky walls, she couldn't smell even a whiff of odour.

Deciding the situation was worthy of it, Hana activated her Sharingan, taking a split-second to adapt to the enhanced reflexes and visual input her eye gave her. She couldn't see much out of the ordinary, the entire place looked like a typical sewer. With a shrug, Hana fell back into a brisk walk.

After maybe a minute more of walking, the corridor opened up into a rather large room, with a giant iron gate in front of her, and a rather elaborate and swirly seal attached to it. With a little thinking, she snapped her fingers when she recognised it as the same seal that appeared on her body every time she channelled Chakra. It was definitely a shocker when she noticed it first.

Or rather, when Sasuke noticed it first. During a rather intense spar, the centre of her shirt was sliced open by a rebounding Kunai, and Sasuke froze up when he saw it, prompting Hana to panic and deviate from her attack, sending the pair sprawling. After a few moments, Sasuke went back to staring at the seal, and it faded after a few moments, stunning the pair. Then Sasuke noticed that wasn't the only thing exposed and turned away with a blush.

That same seal was inscribed atop the lock for the gate, seemingly trapping something inside the cage, but Hana couldn't make out what. Even with her Sharingan, she could barely make out the small form approaching her, though when she saw the tails flicking about she had a good idea of what it was, based on her memories at least. "Hello?" She called out loudly, hearing the creature inside shift before two slitted red eyes appeared before her. As they approached, Hana grew a little nervous, before they stepped within the light.

A little fox appeared, settling down within view and licking a paw before turning its gaze to her. Hana expecting to see malice, or hatred, or just pure anger within the eyes of the Demon Fox. Instead, all she saw was sadness and loneliness. Along with a rather startling amount of fear when they locked eyes.

Against her far better judgment, Hana immediately ran forwards through the gate, scooping the surprised 9-tailed fox up into her arms and nuzzling, making incomprehensible noises as she ran her face against the foxes fur. After a few moments she slowed and, with her arms still around the fox, pulled her face back enough to look into the completely baffled visage of the Kyuubi. "Oh you are so adorable!" She yelled, getting straight back to the nuzzling.

To say that the Kyuubi was surprised was an understatement. Of all the things the fox was expecting, to be suddenly grabbed and...and hugged like that was not anywhere on the list. **_"Y-you don't know what I am, do you?"_** The Kyuubi asked in a distinctly feminine voice, and Hana stopped her nuzzle to look at the fox with a wide smile, noting that the little fox was still terrified of her.

"'Course I do, you're the nine-tailed fox, same one that attacked Konoha, the one currently trapped inside the seal on my stomach, and the same cute little adorable fox currently in my arms!" She then promptly went back to her nuzzling, and the Kyuubi couldn't be more in shock. The girl knew exactly what she was, yet she didn't care? No, it was unthinkable.

_**"But what about what I did? Your precious Hokage died sealing me, and your mother died protecting you. Don't you care?"**_ Again Hana stopped, this time stretching out her arms a little so the Kyuubi could get a good look at her face as she shook her head.

"I don't care. Not one bit. Do you know why?" The Kyuubi shook her head, and Hana gave a sad smile. "Because when I looked at your eyes, I didn't see anything similar to the monster who killed my parents. Do you want to know what I saw?" After a few moments where the Kyuubi wiggled about a bit, she listened as the fox finally sighed softly and nodded, getting a light hug in payment. "I saw nothing but a small and lonely fox. And I get it. You've been in here for..what? Twelve whole years, with nobody to talk to, and nothing to do but sit and wallow."

Hana looked around the cage, frowning for a moment before she looked back at the Kyuubi. "Hey, wanna see a magic trick?" She said with a quirked smile, and without even letting the Kyuubi agree or disagree, she closed her eyes and focused, covering the Kyuubi's eyes with her own hand. After a moment, a gust of wind drew her attention, and she re-opened her eyes to a newly-created inner world.

It was a pretty close mimicry to the third training ground, down to the stumps in the ground and the small bridge across the little brook. With a smile, she uncovered the Kyuubi's eyes, feeling more than hearing the surprise the fox had for the newly created area. "You were left alone in here for twelve years...But no more, Kyuubi. I promise,-" She gently laid down the fox and smiled as she began zipping around happily, "I promise I won't leave you alone again." She said quietly.

What Hana did not expect was for the Kyuubi suddenly barreling into her, knocking her onto her back and nuzzling her neck, making her giggle at the feeling of the Kyuubi's nose rubbing against her throat. After a few moments, she felt the Kyuubi step up and looked down to see the fox staring at her eyes, firmly stood atop her chest.. **_"Kurami."_ **She said softly, making Hana's eyes widen before she sat up slightly, with her arms reaching around to embrace the Kyuubi, and she smiled.

"Hi there Kurami, I'm Hana. Nanashi Hana!" She tightened her arms again, and felt the fox in her arms relax into the embrace, rubbing her own head against Hana's chin affectionately. And, for those few moments, Hana found true happiness again for the first time since the massacre, with her arms full of what her village regarded as a demon-fox.

In that moment, Hana knew that nothing could be further from the truth. _**"H-hey Hana?" **_The fox said quietly. Looking down, Hana saw the fox looking up at her with love, but still a little fear. "_**Y-you have the Sharingan?"**_

"Yeah...? I do, why does that matter though?" Hana ran her hand atop Kurami's head as she asked, scratching between her ears a little, and at the same time de-activating the Sharingan.

_**"I...I hate it. Those cursed eyes. They...they..." **_The fox sobbed gently. _**"**__**They use me. No matter what I do, when I look at those tomoe...they-" **_She buried her head against Hana's chest. **_"They hurt me." _**She admitted quietly.

"Oh precious,-" Hana breathed, rubbing Kurami's head with one hand whilst holding her against her chest with another. "-...I'm so sorry."

* * *

**FUCKING CUTENESS! SQUEEEEEEE!**

_**Fire, while I agree that Kurami and Hana are both adorable, it's not that-**_

**IT'S FUCKING ADORABLE! FUCK ANY OF YOU WHO SAY IT SHOULD BE ANY DIFFERENT! If I hear even one of you saying anything other than "Needs more cuteness", I will personally castrate you. Cuteness is an undeniable law of the Universe.**

_**I'll...be quiet now.**_

**Good boy.**

**Oh...also, Kurami isn't my idea for the Kyuubi's female name. Some guy on Reddit called Akaharu came up with it for someone else, and I pinched it. Go say 'Good name choice' to him if you want. Again, NOT MY ORIGINAL NAME IDEA. We cool? Yeah, we cool.**

**And...my heart is now broken. I feel so fucking bad for Kurami right now. Seriously though, imagining my sweet little Kurami being forced into some of the situations that Kurama was put in during Canon...my heart can't take it. I need to go hug someone.**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter 5_**

* * *

The days and weeks after Hana's first foray into her inner world were filled with tedium. D-rank after D-rank of hedge-trimming, painting, and just all-round boring menial work. While Hana could appreciate that the work was necessary, and that it served a greater purpose, it didn't make it any less boring.

The beauty of the D-ranks was that they ingrained the Shinobi into the civilian populace subconsciously. Seeing those young faces that cleared their gardens grow up from Genin into strong Chunin and Jonin was an excellent way to ensure that there was no segregation between the Shinobi and civilians. When a civilian sees a Shinobi and recognises them from their younger days when they were still fresh-faced and barely out of the academy, that makes it far easier for them to bond, ensuring strong ties to the village.

But they could have made the missions more enjoyable!

So far, out of all the D-rank missions that Hana and her team received, the only one she considered vaguely enjoyable was when they were tasked with hunting down Tora, the cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife. Having to track down a single animal in a 'village' the size of Konoha was a challenge worthy of her not inconsiderable skills. Unfortunately, tracking was not one of them...yet.

For that, the team had to put the entire village to a fine-brush comb, staying coordinated with wireless earpieces given to them by Kakashi and slowly covering the entire village. Of course, with Hana's luck, she was the one furthest from the animal when Sakura stumbled across it, and had to rush halfway across Konoha, constantly being redirected as the cat made every direction a possible escape route, at one point jumping off Sakura's head, clawing Sasuke in the face, then darting between Sakura's legs and running again.

When Hana finally managed to get within sight of the cat, she had to raise both eyebrows in disbelief. She immediately locked eyes with the familiar brown-furred cat and opened her arms wide. Immediately the cat bolted towards her, leaping up and attaching herself to Hana's clothes using her claws, holding on for dear life. Hana gently wrapped her arms around the cat, smirking at the flabbergasted looks on her team's face when they rounded the corner. "Hana...what?" Was all Sasuke could say, touching the scratches on his face and looking at Hana's own unmarred face, then down at the demon in her arms.

"Oh, hey guys. Don't worry, Kaso here knows me, though I guess you actually have a name huh cutie? Tora, I like it." She said absent-mindedly, shifting the cat in her arms to get her claws out of her clothing and watching with a smile as Kaso, or Tora apparently, started grooming herself. "I did wonder why the picture we were shown looked familiar. Kaso used to hang out in one of the other training grounds, and I guess after a while of me constantly trying to feed her and pet her she got used to me, to the point where...well, you can see that she trusts me."

She looked back at the cat in her arms with a smile, and her team just stared at her, before Kakashi threw his hands up and stomped off, yelling something about 'lucky redheads', while Kurami just remarked about how she wished there was an animal, maybe another fox, in Hana's mindscape to play with.

Hana ignored him and promised to look into doing something like that for her beloved fox. The mental prod she felt was enough for Kurami to convey her happiness at that idea to her, and the girl immediately set her mind to planning.

* * *

"Okay, al-most...there."

Hana had her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as she concentrated on fiddling with her seal. Her plan was fairly basic, it just hinged on making sure she got it perfect the first time. In basic terms, she would use a conjunction of a life-suspension seal and a storage seal to contain an animal, then link it to her Eight Trigrams seal using a regular chakra transferring seal. When the contained animal was trapped inside the Eight Trigrams seal, she could then disengage the chakra transferal seal and remove the other two seals, leaving the selected animal within the same seal as the Kyuubi.

However, she had to be careful not to disturb the primary seal itself. The other seals could fail with no major repercussions aside from a small chakra explosion, barely enough to singe her with the levels of energy she was using for the seals, and probably the death of the subject creature. But, if the Eight Trigrams were to fail, Kurami would be forcibly released, and the strain on Hana's chakra coils would almost certainly kill her immediately. That wasn't even considering the amount of chakra which would be released, explosively mind you, from the seal if it broke. Even if she wished to free Kurami, she would have to at the very least give up on being a Kunoichi to do so. Besides, Kurami had said multiple times, and with a clear and honest voice, that she was happy with Hana, so the Jinchuriki saw no reason to go against her friend and partner's wishes.

Besides, it was nice to have a happy voice in her head, and a cute fox to cuddle whenever she felt like it. if the noises she made were any indication, Kurami adored it as well.

"And perfect!" She exclaimed with a dramatic swish of her sealing brush, looking down at the carefully-drawn lines with a scrutinizing eye. She already had her trial animal contained within her seals, a cute little fox, so all that was left was to hook up the final seal to her stomach, funnel a bit of chakra into it to coax the transferal into activating, and then let the fox be pulled into her seal. As she laid the sealed paper delicately atop her body, Hana couldn't help but shiver a bit in excitement, and she could feel Kurami's simultaneous worry and excitement as she slowly and tentatively pushed chakra into the transference seal.

While the Kyuubi desperately wanted some company when Hana wasn't able to spend time with her, she was still worried, since, for as much of a prodigy as she was, Hana was still only a young girl, and not yet a master of the sealing arts. Perhaps she could have maybe tried to get into contact with someone who could actually use Fuinjutsu at a master level to get their input before activating her own home-made and experimental seal.

When the seal activated, Hana felt a strange twinge in her abdomen, and she almost cut the seal off instinctively, but it wasn't painful, so Hana let it happen, her fingers mentally crossed as her hands were too busy with keeping the seal active. After a few moments, Hana felt an indescribable sensation wash across her entire Chakra network. Again, it wasn't painful, it just felt strange. After a few moments of that feeling though, a wave of pain flooded through her body, and she removed her hands from the seal, only for the pain to remain, racking through her body. She could hear Kurami shouting in panic in her head, and she curled up into a ball, seriously regretting not telling Sakura or Kakashi, or even Sasuke what she wanted to do.

They probably would have told her not to and stopped her, calling it a bad idea. In hindsight, it probably was. After a few moments, Hana felt a pain in her back and her hair shifted, but she ignored those in favour of trying to blot out the pain, which receded after a few more moments of torture. With slow and hesitant movements, Hana slowly rose from the floor, only to be weighed down from behind and fall backwards, rolling over something furry and sparking a twinge of pain from...it?

With blinking eyes, Hana looked down at the furry thing she landed on and noted that it looked a lot like a large tail. With a very hesitant hand, she slowly grasped it and felt her touch upon it, from within the tail itself. "_**Hana...You..." **_The soft voice of her friend called from her mind, and she managed a hesitant smile. Opening her mouth to respond audibly, Hana then remembered she felt something in her hair. With a slow hand, she raised her hand to rest atop her head, and felt two fluffy peaks. Rubbing her hand across them, Hana felt a strange urge well up inside her as she felt her own pleasurable touch, and as she followed it, she felt her throat constricting in a strange way. As she tried to speak, an undeniable purring sound came from her lips, causing her to immediately blush, while Kurami's uproarious laughter filled her head.

"Hmm, yeah yeah, laugh it up." She said sullenly as her throat loosened, still idly playing with her ears in one hand, her tail in another. "Now what the fuck am I going to do?" When she felt Kurami mentally raising an eyebrow, she flicked her tail out of her own hand. "Let's face it, if I walked into town looking like this, every single villager is going to say I'm a reincarnation of the 'demon-fox'." She felt Kurami's disapproval of that name, and she frowned. "I know you dislike the name, sweet one, I just have to say it as it is though, okay?"

_**"Well, you could use a layered Henge on yourself?" **_Kurami suggested quietly, and Hana had to resist the urge to facepalm.

"Of course, I'm an idiot." Quickly flipping through Dog and Boar, Hana settled her hands on Ram and watched the mist of the technique envelop her body, hiding the ears and tail from sight and touch. With another swift trio of motions, Hana applied a second, then a third, layer of Henge to herself, ensuring that even if one layer is dispelled by accident, the other layers would protect her secret. With a final look over herself, Hana felt confident in her Henge, and she set off to go and pretend like nothing ever happened.

"Umm...Kurami?" The humming sound she got bade Hana to continue her sentence. "What actually happened to the fox? It's not in the suspension or storage seal, so is it in the mindscape with you?"

The noise Kurami made was enough to tell her that, whatever did happen, Hana probably couldn't count the experiment as a success.

* * *

Looking at his most unique student, it was clear to Kakashi that something was different. She still looked the same, her dark red hair, which was oh so similar to her mothers, and her mismatched eyes, the perfect opposite of cerulean blue and blood red. Even the little whisker-like markings adorning her cheeks were the exact same, a physical reminder of just what she kept within herself. Yet, for all that she looked the same, she was changed somehow, and recently.

For one, she smelled differently. Sure, to most people she'd probably still have the same smell of whatever kind of products she used, but to his enhanced sense of smell, something wasn't quite right, she smelled kind of like some sort of animal all the time, no matter what. That could be played off as her having found a pet, but her scent seemed entwined with it, almost as though the animal was with her permanently. And another thing, she seemed off-balance, like something was weighing her down from behind, making her previously flawless swings fall a tiny fraction off their mark. Barely enough to even be noticeable, but Kakashi didn't get to where he was by not being observant.

However, Kakashi couldn't sense any hint of the Kyuubi's Chakra, nor was Hana doing anything odd, so it didn't look like it was the Demon-Fox influencing her.

On a whim, Kakashi stood from his place in a tree overlooking his students, put his Icha Icha book away, and promptly tilted his forehead protector up, exposing his Sharingan and looking upon his student. He nearly fell out of his tree in surprise when he saw just why she smelled distinctly like a fox. She had a single tail idly swaying behind her, and two ears were atop her head, as red as her hair and twitching occasionally.

He knew his student was decent at Genjutsu, she even managed to trick him with one when she got angry at him, but for her to permanently use a Henge like that was a whole other level of proficiency. He doubted even Kurenai would be capable of maintaining a Henge for that long, especially not one which also had to hide physical matter like a tail. Considering Hana had it swinging freely behind her yet never hit anybody with it, it was clear that the Henge was making it only influence her.

She could have made the tail completely disappear so that it didn't have an influence on her either, but she was obviously trying to get used to her apparent new appendage. Smart girl. In a battle, if the Henge she was using was dispelled, having to suddenly account for enhanced hearing and a tail would throw her off. So instead she was getting used to her new tail so that even if the Henge were to drop, she would remain just as effective, perhaps even more so, as her new appearance would likely worry people.

As it was, Kakashi took a moment to collect himself before hopping out of the tree to land beside her. "Sensei!" She yelled in surprise, taking a step back and putting a hand on her chest, above her heart. "I swear, do you want to give me a heart attack?"

"It's good training." Was all he said on that before he fixed her with a stern gaze. "Hana, an hour after today's training ends, I'd like you to meet me at the memorial stone, I trust you know where it is?" The look in his eyes was strong enough to forestall any argument or quippy comment the girl might have come up with, and she quickly nodded her acceptance. "Good, see you there." He ruffled her hair with an eye-smile, and noticed her strange reaction, almost like she was resisting something, just adding to the evidence for Kakashi.

With that, he Shunshin'd away to go and report to the Hokage, hopping across the training area swiftly and silently, his mind reeling slightly. His Sharingan definitely saw through whatever Henge she was using, so she wasn't playing a prank on him. Just in case perhaps she was using some unknown method to trick him, he made sure that when he touched her head, he put her hands directly atop where her animal ears would be, and her reaction definitely wasn't what she would normally do when he mussed her hair up.

Reaching the edge of the forest, Kakashi quickly ascended to the top of the buildings, affectionately named the Shinobi Highway, and jumped his way across the village, giving idle nods and small waves to those who greeted him on the way past. Within a few minutes, he arrived at the Academy, quickly hurrying through the doors with a quick mention of needing to see the Hokage immediately to the poor receptionist before he barreled past, arriving at the door and giving it a firm knock.

A few moments passed before he heard the Hokage call for him to enter, and he saw the man sat behind his desk, a veritable mountain of paperwork stacked atop it. Why the man didn't use a Shadow Clone to do such a trivial task, Kakashi didn't know, but he thought it amusing and thus never mentioned it to the man many labelled as the Professor. "Kakashi-san, while it's nice to see you, why the sudden intrusion?" The old man asked genially.

"Hokage-sama, there's been a...development involving Nanashi Hana." He said plainly. "I believe it would be for the best to show you rather than tell you." He went on to add when Hiruzen looked like he wanted to know more.

"I shall defer to your judgment then Kakashi-san. Well, shall we go and see how Hana-chan is doing? I must admit, with the amount of paperwork forced upon me, I've not been able to visit her nor Sasuke-kun in some time. I trust they are doing well?" Hiruzen rose from his chair, glancing over his paperwork before he huffed. "And I suppose after this visit it shall not happen again until you bring them for a C-rank assignment." He gave a pointed look to Kakashi with that.

"I'll...take it under consideration, Hokage-sama." The man said briskly

* * *

Hana arrived promptly at the memorial stone, walking up to a familiar spot and gazing upon the names of her mother and father. In her talks with Kurami, the friendly fox told her about her parents, and about what exactly happened that night. To say Hana was furious when she found out was an understatement. According to Kurami, she was being controlled by the very same eye Hana now sported, as she, alongside the other Biju, had a crippling vulnerability to the Sharingan's Genjutsu abilities, namely one which, when eye contact is made, allows the user to bestow any number of different effects on the target. It explained her reaction when Hana showed up with her own Sharingan activated in her eye, and it took a good ten minutes for Kurami to get Hana to stop apologizing, though she didn't tell the girl to stop cuddling her. Apparently, in a matured state, the Sharingan can cause anything from paralysis, to information extraction, and even mind control.

The final one was used against Kurami the moment she was removed from Kushina, and from then on she was forced to obey the orders of the one in control of her body. Thankfully the control was broken, but by that point, she was being attacked by Konoha Shinobi and had to defend herself. In retaliation, the Yondaime Hokage, her father, began sealing Kurami into Hana. In her rage, she lashed out, almost succeeding in killing Hana during that moment, and only being stopped by her parents taking the blow for her.

Watching the normally so playful and happy fox break down into tears and babbled apologies when she admitted that was enough to cause Hana to let out her own tears as she comforted the poor fox, wrapping her arms around her and holding her tight. It took a few minutes, but the sobs from the fox eventually died down, and Hana was able to catch her gaze, giving her a genuine smile, one the Kyuubi slowly and weakly returned.

"She what?"

The surprised voice of the Hokage called out in the area, and Hana snapped out of her memories to look in the direction of the shout. A few moments passed before Kakashi dropped out of a tree, with the Hokage following him quickly. "Kakashi-sensei, Hokage-sama?" She asked quickly.

With a sigh, Kakashi waved at her. "Hello Hana-chan. I...we have some questions." Those words were enough to freeze Hana up, and she looked between the pair in fear. Kakashi was quick to raise his hands in a placating manner. "Hana-chan, please. We already know you are the Jinchuriki, we are just...worried that you may be being influenced and hiding it out of fear of retaliation."

After a few tense moments where Hana desperately wished she had some more time to think of an explanation, she forcibly expelled breath from her lungs, before bringing her hands together and releasing the Henges, one after another. Surprisingly enough Kakashi didn't show much of a reaction, leading Hana to believe he knew somehow, though exactly how she didn't know. On the other hand, Hiruzen, for possibly the first time she'd ever seen him, was completely gobsmacked. She did admit that, when she looked in the mirror, she looked pretty much like an exact replica of a Kitsune girl from her old world, though her own fox ears were rather short in comparison to most she'd seen, a fact she was thankful for. Constantly clipping her ears on doorframes would get annoying rather fast, not to mention every kind of hat would be uncomfortable.

"Hana-chan, can you please explain...how exactly did this happen?" Hiruzen ventured slowly, keeping his gaze firmly in Hana's face.

"Well...it was after we captured Tora for the first time. Kurami mentioned that she'd like to have an animal to play with, preferably a fox, so I went about setting a seal up to do so. I tried to add the fox to the seal, but for some reason, rather than entering the seal, the fox decided to somehow merge with me, giving me the ears and tail...along...other things." She admitted sheepishly.

"Other...things?" Kakashi asked, and almost leapt backwards when Hana glared at him. After a moment, she closed her eyes, and a second later, purring could be heard throughout the clearing. Despite his best efforts, Kakashi couldn't help but snicker at his student. Sure, he had his own problems due to his canine summoning contract making his sense of smell abnormally strong, but he never had a problem with his voice coming out as a woof.

Hana felt her face warm up as she held her purring for a few moments before stopping, her face as red as her eye, with her hand itching to punch Kakashi in the balls for laughing at her. Not that she'd be able to hit him without her Sharingan active in any case. The Hokage was conspicuously quiet and contemplative, and Hana cast him a furtive glance. "Hana-chan." His voice called to her, and she looked up at him. "I presume this...'Kurami' you mentioned is the Kyuubi?" He asked, and Hana nodded.

"Yeah, Kyuubi isn't her name, it's like calling someone a human instead of their name, except worse because now it alludes to her being a demon." Hana frowned at that.

"Hana, you do realize what the Kyu-" Kakashi began, but Hana's glare caused him to amend his statement. "-what...'Kurami' did when you were born?" Hana nodded quickly at this, her face quirked in a strange way. "How can you know that and still believe that 'she' is not a demon?"

"Because, as far as I'm aware, I'm the only fucking person to be her Jinchuriki who has ever tried to, oh I dunno, SPEAK TO HER!" The loud shout startled the pair, but Hana wasn't finished. "Mito-san spoke with her once. ONCE! She held Kurami for decades, and she only spoke to her a single fucking time." Hiruzen opened his mouth to protest, but the glare the young girl in front of him managed to cow him, despite their relative skill and strength. "And my mother. My mother...I don't even want to acknowledge that woman as my mother for what she did to Kurami."

That statement managed to make Hiruzen stumble slightly in shock. "Do you want to know what Kurami's bindings were like inside of my mother's seal? Did she ever tell you what she did to Kurami? Well, let me tell you...SHE WAS FUCKING IMPALED! SHE..She..." Hana sobbed gently. "She was stabbed through...each of her tails, through all four of her paws and her stomach, then chained up against a stone slab like...I don't...Who even does that to-" She clenched her fist.

**_"Hana-chan, please, they-"_**

"DON'T TRY TO DEFEND HER KURAMI!" The yell came unexpectedly, with Hiruzen and Kakashi left watching as Hana had a silent argument, which they quickly realized was with her tenant. The sheer notion that the Kyuubi would try to defend those which sealed her never even crossed their minds before, for good reason. After a moment, she looked up from the floor to glare at the pair. "You two don't know what she had to go through. At least 14 years in constant pain...Think about that. A living, thinking, loving creature, subjected to torment for 14 fucking years..." Hana's voice sounded practically dead at that point. "And-and when she was finally free, she was immediately...and against her will, forced to murder thousands..."

"And you believe this, coming from the mouth of the same creature who caused those deaths?" Hiruzen said calmly.

"They didn't just come from her lips." She muttered, barely audible for the two Shinobi. When Hiruzen went on to question her, Hana raised her gaze from his chest to look directly into his eyes, a steel-hard glint of anger visible within them. "I saw it all that night. I remembered it all. Every. Fucking. Moment." The girl practically spat those last words out like a curse. "And yet, what could I say or do? For fucking years I've had to keep my mouth shut about all this. I saw the one who killed Biwako that night." Hiruzen looked like he'd been slapped in the face by that. Public knowledge was that Biwako had died in an unrelated incident. Only he and a very few select other individuals knew how she died.

"Hana-chan-" The Hokage tried to intersect, but Hana wasn't done.

"I was forced to watch as my father had his soul ripped out and his body was impaled by Kurami's claw, alongside my mother. I remember that you were the one to arrive. Of course, soon after that I was asleep so the next thing I remembered was the hospital, but the point was...I fucking remembered at all. I was just born. My eyes opened, and the first thing I remember was that fucking Kunai. A single Kunai above my eye." She pointed at her blood-red eye for emphasis. "Symbolism, causation, I don't know. A drop of blood in my eye and the whole world spins. Or maybe it was something else, who fucking knows?" She threw her hands up helplessly.

To say Hiruzen and Kakashi were speechless was an understatement. Hana took their silence as an opportunity and took a few breaths before she continued. "And so she came to rest within me. Her third Jinchuriki. It took me a good twelve years to even access my seal, which was by accident, so that was another twelve years of pure and utter fucking solitude and silence. The previous Jinchuriki had no excuse, they knew exactly what they were, I had to find out from the mouth of the one I was meant to be keeping away from our village. I wonder, if Kurami never mentioned it, when were you planning on telling me? You said you know what I am already, so not knowing is no excuse."

"Hana-chan, I swear, I planned to tell you when you made Genin, but I never got the chance." Hiruzen said apologetically with spread arms, and Hana had to resist the urge to immediately yell bullshit. She turned to face Kakashi, who just pointed at Hiruzen sheepishly. Hana sighed softly, resisting the urge to try and attack someone hailed as a 'God of Shinobi'.

"You know, when I first met Kurami, do you know what the first thing she ever said to me was?" She paused a moment to glance between the pair. "She asked, in an fucking absurdly meek voice, if I even knew what she was. As if the idea of a human who actually adored her was as absurd a concept as, oh I don't know, A FUCKING INTELLIGENT JINCHURIKI?!" Hana was panting at this point, her anger getting the better of her. "And do you know how she is now? She's happy. For the first time since Mito-san had her sealed away against her will, she's happy. In fact, she's probably resting right here at this very moment inside my seal. Because of how it's my own mind-scape, I can change it mostly at will, so making it look like our very own training ground was a breeze."

"She's happy now." Hana reiterated tiredly. "She said that if she got the chance, she'd refuse to leave my seal, even if it didn't harm me. Out in the world, all that would happen is she'd be hunted down, to be sealed away again by other, far worse humans and used for nothing but their greed. And honestly? I don't blame her. Not one bit. Because I know how depraved some people are, like a certain Jinchuriki who decided that because she was called a demon-fox, she should be run through with spikes and chained up for over a decade. A fucking decade."

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, Hana turned away from the pair to face the memorial stone, slightly thankful to Kakashi for suggesting that location in the first place. "And now they are both honoured in stone and memory, while Kurami is slandered and hated for something out of her control. Seems bad luck and hatred follows the pair of us, no matter where we go." The last sentence was just barely loud enough to be heard.

"Hana-" The girl then swivelled on the spot, her eyes fierce.

"Stop. I...I've had it. I've had enough of all this. Of all the deceit, all the hatred, everything." She intoned quietly. "The village indoctrination, the child soldiers, the endless warfare. You know something interesting? I never got a fucking choice about whether or not I was going to be a Kunoichi. I was never asked. I guess from the day I became a Jinchuriki it was expected of me. Sure, I showed interest, but I was also interested in fucking music. And now? Now, I've had it with this village, with these nations, with this whole fucking world!" Her words were borderline treasonous, and Hiruzen made to warn her with a reprimand, but she chuckled. It wasn't any kind of joyous chuckle, it sounded almost broken. "But the thing is, Hiruzen, Kakashi, I'd been done with this fucking place for a while. I just needed something to push me over the edge. Goodbye."

And with that, the girl vanished, leaving no trace that she was ever there outside of her rapidly fading scent and the faint chakra signature which marked the Jutsu she used.

"Kakashi..." Hiruzen said lowly, and the man snapped to attention quickly. "Get your remaining team together immediately, and keep them under watch, especially Sasuke-kun." The silver-haired man nodded, quickly Shunshining away and leaving the wizened old Hokage beside the memorial, a firm frown set upon his features like stone.

"Minato...I'm sorry."

* * *

**Phew, that was a fucking amazing chapter to write, I loved that, really cathartic.**

**Yeah yeah, I hear you, it makes no fucking sense that, just because she absorbed the chakra of a fox, it wouldn't make her suddenly grow fox parts. My story, fuck you all, Faunus are awesome, we should bow before their greatness.**

_**You are kinda insane today huh Fire?**_

**Lil bit, yeah. But I really enjoyed smacking down on some people. Of course, in canon, the Kyuubi is genuinely violent and a monster to the people living there. But in my story, despite being far kinder and a more honest soul, Kurami is treated just like her canon counterpart, with nary a chance to explain herself, which is why Hana surprised her so much by showing such an immediate adoration for her, and why she, in turn, absolutely adores and loves Hana, willing to stay with her no matter what.**

**She isn't above a bit of friendly mockery though, as seen when Hana fucking purrs. What I wouldn't give to be able to purr like that...I know foxes can't purr, again, my fucking story bitches.**

**Last point. I beg you all, if you see an error, please, leave a review telling me so. For example, say you saw "I guess from the da yI becaem a Jinchuriki it was expected of me.", please leave a review with the incorrect sentence in it, so that way I can search the document and correct the mistake. Just as an example, and it would REALLY help me out.**

**Anyways, hope you're all enjoying this. Funny part is, I'm writing this on the day that chapter 3 came out, so I'm massively ahead on chapters right now, yay!**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

* * *

With the familiar sound of air being displaced swiftly, Hana found herself atop the invisible seal painted onto the floor of her apartment bedroom, only stumbling slightly from the disorientation. A far cry from the feeling she felt the first time she experienced the Hiraishin as a baby, and the many times she'd thrown up since then, repeatedly using the Jutsu, just to get used to the vertigo feeling.

Ever since she was allowed to leave the Uchiha compound and wander freely in her childhood, Hana was absorbed by her studies on the Hiraishin. Using her memories of exactly where she recalled her father appearing, she managed to hunt down a single tri-pronged Kunai, with the Hiraishin paper still wrapped around its handle. It was embedded almost entirely in the ground, deep within the forest in one of the training grounds, and it took the girl several days and much fruitless searching, but she damn well found it.

And after years of study, she finally managed to reverse-engineer it, silently praising her Uzumaki heritage for her inherent Fuinjutsu proficiency once again. It sucked that she had to write her own Seal Key for it, as her fathers own Key was lost to her, meaning she couldn't use the Kunai he had spread across the Elemental Nations, simply because she wasn't linked into the Key. However, since she knew how to create her own new Hiraishin, she made her own Key, giving the scroll that the Key was inscribed upon to Kurami for safe-keeping inside her seal, practically nullifying the risk that somebody would steal it. That meant that the only person who could use her Hiraishin was her. And Kurami if she ever was released from the seal, but since she wasn't planning on leaving at any point, the only thing she ended up using it for was popping around Hana's mindscape.

Walking over to the corner of her room, she knelt and pressed her hand against the floor, feeling the seal beneath her fingers activate at her touch, before spitting out several small scrolls which she caught handily. Ever since she gave up on the idea of living within the village, she had been preparing for her escape and subsequent missing-nin status. She didn't like the fact that she would be leaving Sasuke behind, but no matter what angle she looked at it from, Sasuke was too indoctrinated into the village, and would constantly be tempted to return.

Certainly, her brother would follow her straight out of Konoha, and probably straight into the centre of a hostile Iwagakure if she actually asked him to, but the entire time he would long to return to Konoha. If she had made a more concerted effort when she was younger to help him avoid the Indoctrination of the Academy, perhaps he could have come, but that was in the past, and as such she didn't waste time moping about it. So, despite her wishes, she eventually decided that she could simultaneously keep him safe, and leave the village, by letting him stay.

With that decided, she had left an invisible seal, inscribed on him secretly, just for peace of mind. If three years passed, or his specific chakra signature became dangerously low, to the point of extreme Chakra exhaustion, a very special Hiraishin scroll of her own design would appear from the seal. The seal would also give her a signal through a seal on her own body telling her the seal had been tripped. She could then get out of any potentially compromising positions and reverse-summon herself to him using the Hiraishin, with the scroll set to burn away after she arrived. Of course, it could potentially be used as a trap, but since she had to be able to arrive using the Hiraishin scroll, she could always Hiraishin away again within an instant if she saw it as such.

Somehow, Hana doubted that Sasuke would ever betray her like that, even after potentially 3 years with 'little' contact. Because she wasn't planning on pulling an Itachi on him. Not a chance on hell would she betray him like that. She had plenty of paper and envelopes in one of her seals, so she could write to him easily enough. While he couldn't write back to her, it would set her mind at ease being able to keep in touch, even in a one-way system.

Not that Hana planned to never see him either. With her Hiraishin, she could easily place a seal on a random branch in a forest within Konoha and appear at any time. Several very secluded spots within Konoha now bore the tiny mark of her collapsed Hiraishin seal. Considering her Henge abilities, which had only gotten better when she was forced to hide her new appendages, and the fact that she was exceptionally good at controlling her Chakra even without Kurami's assistance, she could easily pass for a weak civilian girl, just so long as Kakashi didn't find her again. She didn't quite know how he found her out, but she suspected it had something to do with his Sharingan, since Sakura and Sasuke made no indication that they noticed a difference.

_**"Hana-chan, the Sharingan can see through Henges." **_Kurami chimed in sheepishly, and Hana had to resist the urge to face-palm. It could have been a potentially awkward conversation if Sasuke was to use his Sharingan on her and see through the Henge.

"Well, thank you for remembering Kurami-chan. Ap ap ap!" She chirped when Kurami made to apologise. "You didn't remember, it's not your fault sweet one." She said honestly. While it was irritating being found out in such a way, it still worked for her, though it forced her into a bit of a hurry.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Hana hastily stowed away the scrolls into the pouch on the small of her back, before she rose from her place knelt on the floor and stepped to her wardrobe, opening the doors and breathing in deeply of the familiar smell in the room. Those few minutes would be the last time for a good long while, perhaps ever, that she would be stood within that room. She grabbed out one of a small pile of specific scrolls, unsealing the contents and laying them atop the bed, before shrugging her sweaty and slightly muddy clothing off and looking at herself in the mirror attached to the wardrobe door.

Despite her relatively young age, her body had certainly become worthy of the Kunoichi profession. Her muscles weren't large, nor did they make her look like some kind of fitness freak, but they were certainly better than she used to be. Running a finger absently along the lines of her seal, Hana smiled softly at the mental presence of Kurami, feeling her worry after the argument only minutes ago, and responding to that worry with plenty of heartfelt adoration.

Turning away from the mirror, Hana began donning her new outfit. First a plain fishnet shirt, with a black tank-top over that, a pouch sewn onto the back of it, to which Hana placed her scrolls. Wrapped around her neck was a blood-red scarf, with enough material at the back to be lifted up and used as an over-hanging hood. Black fingerless gloves went onto her hands, with the ends of the gloves becoming sleeves and reaching halfway up her biceps, with thin and flexible ninja wrappings were wrapped around her fingers. On her right thigh, she wrapped some more ninja wrappings, strapping her Kunai pouch atop it, while her left leg received a brace of Senbon attached to a binding which looped all the way around her thigh, holding plenty of the little needle-like projectiles.

She adorned a deceptively small skirt with a red sash running along her waistline. Rigid, and more akin to shorts than a skirt, the material was perfectly suitable for covering her modesty. In the case that it failed, however, she wore shorts underneath, just for safety. Finally, she pulled on some leggings, the left black and the right the same red as her scarf and sash, which reached up just above her knees, and finished the look with solid but lightweight black combat boots, capped with steel for extra kicking power.

The entire ensemble was made out of a tough fabric which was able to take a casual kunai swipe with no real marking. A determined strike would cut through easily enough, but a regular glancing blow was likely to only leave the faintest of cuts upon her skin, if the fabric didn't stop it from reaching her skin entirely.

As she glanced in the mirror, the girl who looked back was nothing like the positive and childlike person she left her apartment as that morning. In her place was a true Kunoichi, one to be feared by some, and loved by others. A quick mental prod of agreement from Kurami made her smile.

One thing, however, stood out to the girl. Her forehead protector, still wrapped around her head, which in her haste she had completely forgotten about. She knew that she would be branded a missing-nin, and she had accepted this. Yet, for some reason, she didn't wish to part from that which marked her as a Shinobi. With a huff, she looked between the protector in her hands, and her own outfit, sticking her tongue out in thought.

After a few moments deliberation, she whipped out a scroll, unsealing a fabric knife and a stitching kit, before quickly cutting away the excess fabric of the protector and hastily sewing it onto the fabric of her scarf. She was careful to place it in such a way that she could easily hide it with a little careful re-arrangement of fabric, but still in a place of honour. As a last random whim, she took a Kunai, and in one fell swoop sliced through the centre of the leaf hitai-ate symbol, well and truly cutting her only Shinobi tie to the village. For her, the only thing that truly remained within the village for Hana was Sasuke, and she'd made her peace with leaving him behind.

As she stepped from her room, she glanced at Sasuke's bedroom door and frowned. Debating for a moment, Hana quickly walked over to the room, pushing the door open and smirking at the slightly dishevelled state of it all. Quickly picking out a piece of paper and a pen, Hana wrote a quick note for her brother, holding it softly in her hand and absent-mindedly brushing her other hand against the back of his chair as she glanced around the room.

She'd spent more nights in this room comforting her brother than she had in her own room, to the point the pair were considering just downgrading to a one-bedroom apartment to save money and sharing a room. Hana closed her eyes, chuckling humorlessly to herself at the fact that after she left, Sasuke would probably downgrade to a single-bedroom apartment, even if he wanted to remain in some vain hope that she would come back one day and it'd all go back to normal.

"Aneue?!" The loud voice called out as the apartment door was thrown open, and Hana's eyes widened momentarily before she latched onto her planted Hiraishin beacon and disappeared from Konoha, letting go of the paper at the last moment. A second later Sasuke burst into his room having first looked in Hana's, only to see a note drifting down to the floor slowly, and a rapidly fading scent.

Arriving outside the village walls, Hana quickly picked up her Kunai, a special little blade she commissioned.

As her father had his tri-pronged Hiraishin Kunai, Hana opted for the same style, except with a single prong on one side, giving her a good position to trap her opponent's weapon and use it as leverage. The other side was bare to allow her to pick between a solid block with the prong, or parrying it with the smoother side. It would also help ensure the Kunai weren't lost underground, with the prong acting as an anchor and preventing the Kunai from burrowing too far into surfaces. The best part was that they were honestly not that difficult to make, so if she ever ran low, she could just ask any blacksmith to create some for her.

Looking back at the walls of Konoha, Hana was happy to say that she felt no particular draw to give up on her plan and return to the village, a sentiment that Kurami shared. For the pair of them, all that happened there was pain and misery, with very few highlights to break up the darkness. For Kurami, that light was Hana herself. And for Hana, it was Kurami and Sasuke. She would include Mikoto if she were still alive, and her death just added onto her pain.

With a final sweeping glance, Hana set her shoulders, shifted the scroll-pouch on the small of her back, and set off at a decent pace towards Sunagakure, hopping from branch to branch with the grace and skill of an experienced ninja.

Only when she was far, far from the village did she let a single tear fall, spending her first night away from the village within her mind-scape cuddling with her closest friend.

* * *

**And there's the Missing-Nin status. Hana has now left Konohagakure, slashing her headband and forsaking all but a single tie to her village, Sasuke. So n****ow, she's on her way to Sunagakure, for reasons unknown!**

**Also, I have some very fun ideas for her to begin expanding into. =)**

_**Oh god no, please not that Fire.**_

**B-but it's a cute idea!**

_**Fine, but don't blame me when people start asking stupid questions.**_

**I won't!**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

* * *

Hurrying down the well-worn dirt path, Hana froze up as she laid eyes upon a group of people and carts walking down the road the same way she was travelling.

The people, merchants probably, weren't what caught her off-guard. No, it was the Shinobi that were travelling with them. They were all wearing Leaf Hitai-ate. At that moment, Hana was never more grateful to Kurami for taking over the role of suppressing her Chakra, allowing Hana to focus on travelling rather than holding her own Chakra back. At the distance those Shinobi were at, even a terrible Sensor-nin would have felt her un-suppressed signature approaching. As it was, none of them even knew she was there. Just another reason for her to adore her fox.

Thinking for a few moments, Hana put together what she knew to make a plan. She took into account that, due to them walking away from the village, there was no way that they had been informed of a new Missing-nin, so they wouldn't know to be on watch for her. Nor would she be in their bingo-books yet. With the low amount of civilians in the convoy and the shinobi escort, there was no way she could just slip in under a Henge while they slept and pretend to be a random wagon-hand. As her plan came together, Hana nodded to herself, confident in her idea, and her hastily scrawled Hiraishin seal on a tree, just in case it all went up in flames.

With the three familiar hand-signs, Hana layered another Henge onto herself, changing from a red-haired, scarf-wearing, scored Hitai-ate bearing, and heavily armed girl, then becoming a moderately pretty, but rather typical, civilian girl, with no calluses on her hands nor much muscle to speak of. Of course, she also had to add a moderately small-sized backpack to her Henge, and for a finishing touch unsealed some wrappings and a standard Kunai with no prongs, tying the weapon to her thigh before rising up and dusting herself off.

As she finished, she set her hands on the straps of her new backpack and began jogging around in circles, working up a little bit of sweat and making herself a little breathless by deliberately breathing in an inefficient way. She could run for hours if she needed to, but she wanted to make sure the illusion was perfect, so she was forced to tire herself a little. When she was satisfied, she stopped running in circles and started lightly hurrying down the road, spotting the convoy again and resisting the urge to frown at how her plan could go wrong in so many ways, instead settling a relieved smile on her face as she approached.

As she got within about fifty meters, one of the Shinobi looked her way, presumably the sensor of the team, and gave her a hard look before conversing with his comrades. She could have listened to them speak by using her new fox traits, but she decided against it, instead hurrying over with her wide smile still on her face. "Hey, are you guys going to Kaze no Kuni?" She said excitedly, mentally cringing a little at her own voice.

"We are." One of the Shinobi said curtly, and Hana was honestly a tiny bit surprised at his curtness. Usually, Leaf-nin were pretty friendly to people. As she opened her mouth to continue speaking, one of the civilians in the convoy, who had noticed her arrival, came over with a calm smile.

"Hello dearie. I couldn't help but hear your question. Might I ask, are you planning to head into the deserts yourself?" She asked politely, her serene smile still on her lips, and Hana nodded quickly. "Well then, would you like to join us for the journey? The roads are no place for such a cute girl to be wandering all alone." The grandmotherly tone the woman had was enough to put Hana at ease, and she nodded again.

"I'd love to!" She chirped happily, smiling at the woman. "I'm Akari." She said, taking a hand from her backpack strap and putting it forward. The woman took it softly, running a hand over her smooth skin.

"Light. A beautiful name for such a bright girl." Hana beamed at the woman for that. "I am Sona, the Head Trader for this little caravan of ours." She waved a hand at the scattered people as they walked along, before turning back to Hana, flicking her gaze down at the Kunai strapped to her thigh. Following her gaze, Hana acted a little sheepish as she touched the ring on the end of the weapon, trying her best to convey a sad expression.

"I...I've never used this before. I mean, there's been a few drunk idiots who thought I was a good chance for a lay, but just taking it out and waving it about has always scared them off. I guess...even drunk men realize when a girl isn't to be messed with." She said with a smile, looping her pinky finger into the weapon and slowly sliding it out of the bindings, twirling it around her finger once before palming the handle within her hand and glancing over at one of the Shinobi guarding the caravan. "I...I better get this back!" She put her foot down for emphasis as she stepped towards him, and acted appropriately irate when he gave her a smirk.

"Sure, sure." He said as he took the weapon, somewhat surprised at the quality but chalking it up to over-protective parents or something. He slipped it into his own Kunai holster, careful to avoid mixing it with his own, before glancing back up to the new girl, who was looking in his direction with a pout, before she raised her arm to point a finger at him.

"And...and I'll know if it's the wrong one!" She threatened, but somehow the sight of a civilian girl pointing a finger at a Shinobi did not inspire much fear. Exactly how she wanted it. If she acted every part the bossy yet comparatively weak civilian, the Shinobi would expect her to be as such, and it might even help to ingratiate herself within the caravan. With her opponent sufficiently cowed, which was not at all, Hana put a smug and victorious smile on her face before turning back to Sona. "So...uh, how far away is Kaze no Kuni? I've never gone there before, so I don't really know how far away it is...I was just following signs and my map." She admitted with a shrug, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Oh we aren't too far from the deserts. If you stay with us, at our normal rate, we should be within the desert inside of a week. if I may, where exactly in Kaze no Kuni are you intending to go?" The woman asked, raising an eyebrow when Akari dug her toe into the ground a little as they walked and glanced about.

"I-uh...well, I wanted...I wanted to go and see Sunagakure." She admitted with a shy smile. "I mean, I've seen Konohagakure before, and I once got the chance to see the walls of Ishigakure, so I decided that I wanted to see as many of the Hidden Villages as I can. It's pretty weird that considering they are called Hidden Villages, yet finding them isn't really that hard. Or...well, isn't hard for me at least." She said with a shrug.

"Oh, how so dearie?" The woman asked softly.

"Uhh, I kind of...hmm, how to put this?" She crossed her arms as she walked alongside Sona, ignoring the looks that the Shinobi were giving her. "Maybe it's better to show you..." Hana said quietly, before pulling out a little rolled-up scroll from a pocket in her backpack and unfurling it. On it was an intricately drawn map of the Elemental Nations, down to every tiny island in the Land of Water and the confusing junction of borders to the West of the Land of Fire. "W-when he died...my father left this scroll for me, and that Kunai." She pointed at the Shinobi behind her with her thumb. "I think he knew that I wanted to travel, even when my mother wanted for nothing but to keep me safe at home." She said sadly.

"Dearie, this map...it must have cost your father a fortune." Hana looked up at the woman in surprise. She'd drawn it out. Every line was her own, and she made it perfect because she'd be relying on it. She didn't lie to the woman when she said she wanted to visit as many Hidden Villages as she could. "The calligraphy is flawless, whoever drew this map could have easily been a Fu-...a seal user." The woman muttered, looking over the map. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I would ask you what price you would put on this map, but I already know you would never wish to part with such a precious item, especially something from your father."

She was right, but not in the way she believed. Hana would willingly part with the map, because she had memorized it, and could just make a new one easily with her sealed supplies. However, she didn't particularly need much money, as she had squirrelled away small parts of her monthly dividend. At first, it was because she wanted to make sure that she and Sasuke had an emergency fund, and after she desired to leave the village it was for her journey, so she had enough to survive. Besides, it would be too suspicious for her to now try and sell this map, proclaiming it something her late father had left her.

Her story had come back to bite her in the ass somewhat, but she could make do. It still made her more personable for the civilians of the caravan, so it still had a purpose. "Yeah. I mean, if I were desperate, I would reluctantly part with it." She admitted with a frown, rolling up the scroll slowly and placing it back in her pack. "But it would mean I couldn't continue my journey, and I'd have to either settle down where I was, begin wandering aimlessly, or...return home."

With a shrug, Hana cast her gaze forwards, looking at the two wagons the convoy was walking alongside with a curious eye. "Oh, I suppose you're wondering just what kind of traders we are." Hana looked away from the wagons to the woman and gave a nod. "Well, you can see for yourself." Sona prompted Hana to step forwards and take a look at the wagons, pulling back one of the coverings to reveal several dozen metal casks stacked inside. When she turned to Sona, the woman smirked.

"You're water traders?" She said, smiling when the woman nodded. "I can imagine that'd be pretty lucrative."

"Honey, you have no idea." The old trader said with a roll of her eyes. "Kaze no Kuni's only water sources are the few oases that dot the land. As such, they import water frequently and at a fixed rate. Anywho, trying to force them to purchase at higher than that gets all your goods seized. It may sound harsh, but considering how much they rely on water, having everything rather rigid seems to work well for them."

"You sound as though you don't come from there?" Hana asked.

"Oh, I don't. I'm not a native to the deserts. A few of us here aren't in fact." She waved around the convoy. "Of course, a few of us are from there. Ahh, back to your destination. It just so happens that we are going to be heading for Sunagakure during this delivery, though we will be visiting a few scattered towns on the way, and I'd be delighted if you joined us for the journey. Safety in numbers, and there's no harm in it that I can see. Though, I hope you have your own food. If we had spare I would gladly feed you as well, but we make it a point not to bring un-necessary weight, I hope you understand."

"That's fine by me. I mean, I was travelling on my own anyway." She hefted her pack for emphasis. "And even if I start running low, I'm a pretty damn good forager. I would say I'm the best, but..." Hana glanced at the smirking face of the nearest Shinobi. "-I think those guys probably have an advantage."

"And you'd be right." The jovial tone the man took when speaking to her made Hana's mind do a joyous backflip. If the Shinobi are comfortable enough to joke with her, it meant that her plan had worked.

"Hmm? So the big bad Shinobi admits that he's better than the young, untrained civilian girl?" Hana put a hand to her forehead in mock faintness "Oh the shame, the horror!" The stifled snickering coming from the man made Hana smile in victory. "So, Shinobi-san, are you?" She watched the man eye her, raising an eyebrow. "Are you a good hunter?"

"Heh. What, you think I'm not a great hunter?" The man said, the smirk on his lips betraying the hard tone in his voice.

"Oh well, I never said that. But, surely if you're so great, you wouldn't be adverse to a little competition?" She ventured, frowning when he shook his head. "Aww, cmon, it'll be fun!"

"No can do I'm afraid. Perhaps if I wasn't on a job I would take up you on that, but my duty is to protect this convoy right now, not to go and have a hunting competition." He said sternly, fully prepared to begin arguing with the girl if she got irate. To his surprise, she just smiled at him. "What?" He asked, confused.

Hana gave him a genuine smile. "It means you take your work seriously. If you agreed to just come gallivanting off into the forest with me...I'd strongly recommend to Sona-sama here to send you back to Konohagakure in shame." The serious look the girl gave him forestalled anything the Shinobi might say. "You were close enough, you heard that I said my father gave me that Kunai. He wasn't a ninja though. So, how did he get it?"

Hana watched the cogs slowly turning in the man's head as he digested everything she'd said. Her rather successful way of gauging his dedication, the Kunai she carried, the way she looked at the three Chunin, it all slowly pulled together into a cohesive story. The best part was that Hana barely had to push them to make it believable. She didn't force the story down their throats, she was just amiably chatting with a new friend and got overheard. Then she gave him a tiny bit of extra information to tip the scales by testing him, and the Shinobi would believe the story he made, with Hana sitting pretty in the middle of it. If only Sasuke could see her now. "You..." He started.

"Please don't." She muttered, already turning away from him to catch up with Sona, leaving the man to his thoughts.

* * *

"Wow."

The one word slipped from Hana's lips as she gazed over the endless dune stretching out ahead of them. In her past life, while she'd seen photos and videos, she never actually visited a desert. She had neither the money nor the time to go. But now that she was free, she damn well certainly not going to pass up the opportunity to visit an absolutely colossal desert.

The Land of Wind was quite literally nothing but endless dunes, stretching as far as the eye could see in all directions, and beyond. The map she was using didn't do the endless desert justice, and if she wasn't carrying several scrolls jam-packed with supplies, she'd definitely be a little worried about the sheer size of the desert. Hana didn't envy any ninja who attempted to invade Suna. Without a map, she was certain that she would be lost within the desert for years.

Casting a glance over to the Shinobi escort, it was clear that they were also a little on edge. During one of her various chats with the sensor of their group, he explained that his team had visited Sunagakure before a few times, once escorting this same caravan, but nothing ever prepared those not native to the sand for seeing that endless desert, threatening to swallow them whole if they ever got lost.

He then went on to try and scare her with stories of sandstorms so strong they would blast sand, whipping up to speeds fast enough to strip the skin right off her body. He claimed to have heard grizzled men speak in fear of colossal sandworms which inhabited the desert, listening for the footfalls of clueless travellers. Once they got a target, they would emerge underneath their very feet, devouring them whole before disappearing beneath the endless sand again, leaving nothing but sand in their wake.

She didn't believe either story, and from the look on his face after he told them, neither did he, it was just a fun story to pass the time as the convoy walked through Hi no Kuni's endless forests. But one thing was clear, from the look on the Shinobi escorts faces, the sensor hadn't lied when he said that they never quite got used to it. "Hey Shinobi-san,-" She called, bringing the sensor out of his slight daze and pointing at the ground ahead of him. "-Scorpion."

The man yelped and leapt up immediately, a Kunai already in his hand, only to see sand, with no scorpion in view. He slipped the Kunai back into his pouch and turned a glare on a frowning Akari as he fell back into step. Before he could say or do anything she charged at him with unbelievable speed, smashing into his chest and knocking the pair of them over. As his allies gave startled yells, he reached for his Kunai pouch instinctively, only to see the girl wince in pain and swipe her hand down at her leg, revealing that there, in fact, was a scorpion in front of him.

What was more surprising for all the Shinobi though, was that when she winced, a puff of smoke erupted from her. Sat in the same place as Akari was a completely different girl, her clothes completely changed and in place of her eyes were a set of Red and Blue eyes looking back. Blinking, the sensor-nin took a few moments to process what he was seeing, and in that time 'Akari' had already stood up, drawing a handful of Senbon from a new brace on her leg and impaling the scorpion with each one, swearing under her breath with each stab.

She reached behind herself after she was done killing the critter, pulling out a scroll from her pouch with a huff before laying a hand atop it to unseal a tiny phial of purple liquid, quickly uncorking it and downing the drink in one large gulp. While she was doing this, the civilians had taken notice of the sudden disappearance of Akari and the emergence of this odd stranger. None of them saw her Henge dispelling, so they didn't know what had happened. All they knew was that the sensor-nin was on the ground, there was a scorpion near him with numerous Senbon stabbed through it, Akari had vanished, and somebody new was stood roughly where she was.

"Uh...hello dearie," Sona said politely, if a little confusedly. "-might I ask who you are?"

Hana sighed, turning her apologetic gaze to the woman and giving her a small smile. "Sorry Sona-sama, I lied." Her face was a little different, with her eyes now vastly different colours and her dark red hair contrasting against the paleness of her skin and the black of her outfit, but her voice was the same, startling the old trader. "It's me, Akari."

To say everybody was surprised was an understatement, none more so than the Shinobi. For over a week they'd been travelling with the girl, and not once since they met her did they ever suspect she was hiding something. To know that she had been using a Henge the entire time was mind-boggling. But what was more, she had a weak chakra signature the entire time, even while sleeping. To control her own chakra output to such a degree, whilst keeping a steady stream into her Henge, it spoke of unparalleled levels of control.

"Well whatever, it was gonna come out anyway. I just feel stupid that a bloody scorpion gave me away." She said with a smirk, turning and extending her hand towards the sensor-nin with a smile. "Still think you'd win that hunting bet?" For some reason, those words sparked something in the sensor, and he tried, he really, truly did. but he couldn't stop the barking laughter he let out as he clasped Akari's hand, letting her pull him up with surprising strength and brush the sand off his back.

"No, I think I'd probably lose, all things considered." He admitted, sticking his hand out to the newly revealed girl with a smile. "And please, no more of that Shinobi-san stuff. Call me Kimura." Hana smiled as she stuck her own hand out, clasping against his firmly.

"Well, if we're giving out names like candy...I'm not actually called Akari." She gave a look towards Sona, as if trying to apologise with her eyes alone. "I'm actually called Hana."

"Wait, seriously?" Kimura asked with a smirk. When Hana nodded, his smirk widened. "So rather than being called Light, you are actually called 'Flower'?"

"Laugh, and I promise I'll put a Senbon between your legs." Hana let go of a tiny bit of her Chakra control as she said that, and the sensor felt her signature grow swiftly before it settled at a High-Chunin/Low-Jonin level.

Glancing between his comrades, only to see them conspicuously looking elsewhere, he turned his gaze back towards the girl, who was tapping her foot impatiently. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Hana." He muttered, hearing the snickering from his two ex-friends. Because they definitely were ex-friends after this betrayal, leaving him high and dry against a girl far younger, and notably stronger than him.

"I accept your apology. Now, can I have my Kunai back?" She stuck her hand out for emphasis, and the man debated the logic of giving her a weapon for a few seconds before she rolled her eyes and stuck a hand on her thigh, poking a finger through the ring of another Kunai and drawing it out, at the same time pulling a Senbon out and twirling it between her fingers. "S'not like I don't have other weapons, but that Kunai is rather...precious to me." She admitted, and the inflection in his voice was enough to break Kimura's resolve, drawing out the Kunai and handing it over. "Thanks."

Shoving the Kunai into her pouch alongside the other, Hana contemplated the Senbon in her fingers for a moment before leaning backwards at an odd angle and flinging it into the scorpion, the weapon sliding right between all the other Senbon to come poking out neatly on the other side. "Fucking scorpion," Hana muttered, stepping over to the brutalized critter and yanking out each Senbon viciously, wiping each one down using a piece of fabric from her pouch before replacing them on her Senbon holder, "-just my luck."

"So, Sona-san, Kimura-san I hope I can assume this doesn't change anything between us?" She asked when she turned from the mutilated Scorpion. "I mean, if you guys really don't want me around that's fine, I can survive out here just fine. I would appreciate the company though." The last part was said quietly.

"Well, I don't see why not!" Sona announced. "Besides, Hana-chan, you don't mean us any ill will, now do you?" Hana quickly shook her head, and the woman smiled. "Then there's no problem. Unless you have anything to add Kimura-san?" The man gave Hana a hard look before shrugging.

"I'd definitely remember you if you were in the Bingo books, and you had plenty of chances to attack us when we were vulnerable. So, unless you have a nefarious team of ambushers waiting to attack within the deserts, I don't see why you wouldn't have acted on a plan. If you were to mean us harm of course." Hana commended herself for keeping a straight face when he mentioned bingo books. As soon as their team got new ones in Konoha, they'd know her deception. Hopefully by that point, she would have already left Sunagakure, but she could only hope.

"To be honest, I was half-tempted to just ignore your convoy entirely and pass by with a wave maybe, but I hoped that by arriving in a convoy I could avoid playing twenty questions at the gate." Hana smirked. "You know the most common question for someone like me, semi-powerful ninja and with no Hitai-ate? 'Where'd you learn?'" Hana flipped her arms up into the air. "Seriously. Since I left, I've been asked that more often than almost anything. Well, apart from 'Would you like a side order with that?', ha!"

Sona laughed loudly, and Kimura gave his own chuckle, setting Hana's heart at ease. As Kimura opened his mouth to ask something, Hana looked towards him with a rather cold gaze. "If you ask that question, I will put a Senbon through your testicles, I swear." For once, her voice lacked any kind of joking, and the question died on his tongue. "I don't like being so callous, but if there's one thing I hate, it's being in the middle between two villages playing fucking tug of war with me. I didn't avoid going to an official Academy just to sign up with a Hidden Village."

Hana curled a hand into a fist and released it with an explosive sigh. "If I wanted to be a part of a Hidden Village, don't you think I'd already be in one?" She asked of the man, glancing between his eyes and refusing to shift her gaze until he looked away. "I am sorry Shinobi-sa-...Kimura-san."

"I'm sorry too, Hana-san. It's just that...you would be a boon to any village with your level of Chakra, not to mention your Senbon-throwing. Hell, I bet if you tried out for it, you could probably make Jonin. But, I digress. I shan't ask you, but I do hope you'll at least take entering a village into consideration." He rubbed his chin for a moment. "As long as you don't consider Iwa that is!" Hana and the man shared a laugh at that.

"Well that's enough of that, let's get moving!" Sona announced to the convoy, many of who stopped to gawk.

* * *

Passing through the first Kaze no Kuni village, Hana was honestly surprised at just how populous the village was.

There were no water sources for miles around according to her map, and yet the people seemed just as healthy and happy, if far more tanned, as a normal Hi no Kuni citizen. Watching the convoy offload several casks of water, Hana raised an eyebrow. Each one was maybe high enough to come up to her mid-thigh, and about a half-meter across, yet they were only selling a handful of them to this village. As she made to question it, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked to her side to see Kimura smirking at her. "Watch." Was all he said.

She obliged, watching several of the men carrying the casks off, and she saw a rather massive water tank with several casks beneath it, all empty by the looks of it. They hooked a cask up to a pulley, with one man at the top hoisting it up. When it reached the top, he grasped it, and in one swift move tipped it over and into the tower, holding it by the bottom.

The sound of rushing water was audible from where she was stood, and yet the torrent continued, and Hana slowly realized what was going on. Looking at Kimura, he merely had a smug look on his face, and Hana pulled away from him with a huff to walk up the side of the tower. As she reached the top, she promptly plonked herself down on the edge, watching the man hold the keg inside the tower, while what could only be described as a torrent of water flooded from the diminutively small cask.

When he finished pouring, the man lifted the now-empty cask up, and almost fell off the tower in surprise when he saw a girl sat on the other side watching him. With a surprised wave, which Hana returned happily, he put the cask back on the pulley and began climbing down the ladder for the tower, panicking when he saw the girl step away from him and swing on the ball of her foot, swiftly starting to fall off the side of the tower. Before he could even yell his surprise, he saw her foot remain rooted in place as she swung down, and she took off sliding down the side of the tower.

As she slid, she couldn't help it, she let out several fox-like yips of glee, resolutely ignoring Kurami's snickering in favour of feeling the air rush past her face. When she was a few meters from the floor she pushed away from the tower, tucking in and rolling, with her feet coming to a stop right beside Kimura's own position. As she straightened up, she blushed at the look her gave her. "Please don't question that."

"Question what? The slide, or the sounds?" He asked with raised eyebrows, only to receive a shrug.

"Either." She said, stretching her arms out and smiling as she looked back up the tower. "I wanna do that again someday, that was fun." She admitted shamelessly. Spotting Kimura's perplexed look, Hana frowned. "What?"

"I...guess I just kind of forgot that for as mature as you can act, you are still...I don't even know, Academy-aged?" He asked, only to receive another shrug.

"Don't know. I've never been to an Academy, remember. Hmm, I wonder whether they have good food in the Academies...now I'm hungry. Well, see ya, I'm gonna go find Sona." She waved at the man as she jogged off, turning away to spot the familiar trader and taking a few moments to observe the town, watching the children were darting about in the excitement with a smile. Apparently the water caravan arriving was always made into a big deal, like the coming of rains farming communities celebrated, and the children, as only children do, took full advantage of the adults being distracted to play their games all across the village.

While her childish side longed to join in with their games, Hana wanted to confirm something with Sona before she would make time for playing with the kids. Sure, she wasn't truly one of them, but that didn't mean she couldn't have fun. And, since she would be the big kid, it meant that they would listen when she tried to set up games...hopefully.

"Sona!" Hana called out over the background sound when she spotted the familiar brown-haired woman, and the trader turned to wave at her before continuing her conversation. The girl jogged over, more than once having to avoid a child running around at top speed, arriving at the trader barely flustered. However, as the woman was mid-conversation, Hana felt it only polite to wait, so she settled for leaning against a wall with her ears firmly not listening to the conversation, instead keeping track of all the children through sound alone, closing her eyes to do so.

After a few minutes of listening, she smirked. One of them was trying their hand on sneaking up on her. Keyword there being 'trying'. Despite how they tried to tread softly, their untrained bodies betrayed them, disturbing the sand beneath their feet ever so slightly. She heard the sand shift more as they put weight on their foot, and as they lunged forward, she neatly stepped away from the wall, watching the boy go sailing straight past her with a giggle. He ploughed straight through the sand, leaving a nice groove in it, before jumping up in the excitable way children were, and rounding on her quickly.

"How'd you know I was there?" He asked quickly.

"Well, I heard ya." She replied just as fast. "You pushed down on the sand under your foot just before you jumped at me, and I heard it." Of course, what she didn't say was that she only heard it because of her invisible appendages, but that didn't matter. "And I could hear you run down the alleyway anyway, so when you stopped running, I knew you were there, I just waited for you to jump." She finished.

"Wow...so cool!" He yelled, drawing the attention of the other children, who quickly surrounded her, gawking at her eyes, her Senbon and Kunai, even her pretty typical hair. With a sigh, Hana gave up on the idea of speaking with Sona, her mouth slipping into a grin.

"Well, who wants to try and catch me first?" She asked rhetorically, folding her arms and glancing about. As the first child jumped to try and catch her, she slipped around his body, careful not to go too fast and make the game boring or impossible for them, but just fast enough to remain within a tantalizingly small distance of his grasp, and darting out of the gap he made in the circle. "Gotta go faster than that!" She chirped as she darted off, setting all the children off as they hurried after her and each other.

The rules didn't exist. Friendships were shattered and betrayals were rampant. Much imaginary blood was spilt that day. And so began, as the children of the little village would later dub it, The Great Tag War. When asked why it was a War, not a Battle or Skirmish, the children would always reply with "Because The Great Tag Battle just doesn't sound as awesome and cool, obviously!" The victor...well...

Let's just say the children never spoke of that little fact.

* * *

**Hmm, I like the idea of Hana actually playing with children her age.**

**I remember, when I was much younger, I went to a festival with a children's tent. The attendant just hung around and didn't do much, so I took it upon myself, as the so-called "Big Kid", to organize some games. We did freeze-tag, we did capture the flag (with little rubber balls), we had a rousing game of hide-and-seek all over the nearby Festival area, it was...amazingly fun.**

**Then the adults came in and ruined it all, in that way they do when they think they know better than you. We weren't hurting anyone, or getting in the way, but no, we weren't allowed to play Hide and Seek, which was boring.**

**Sorry about that rant boos! I'm just glad that I never really grew up. Growing up is boring anyways. Hope you're all enjoying Hana's adventures.**

**Also, I really like the idea of Hana playing into a slightly scatter-brained persona, with her little random 'Hmm, I wonder if they have good food in the Academies...' thing.**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

* * *

After the convoy finished their business in the first village, they set off again at a brisk pace, with it eventually being decided that Hana would be at the front of the convoy, along with Kimura.

Hana was fine with this, she didn't mind having a bunch of civilians following along behind her, and if it put them at ease to see her forging the path ahead, then being up front and the one most in danger during an attack was just fine by her. She'd spoken with at least half of the civilians in the convoy, and mostly enjoyed her conversations. There were a few who remained reasonably suspicious of her, but considering how she had been revealed, it wasn't a surprise.

Not that anything happened. The convoy found themselves within another village after another few days, with the same water sale being made. When Hana saw the metal casks being removed from the wagon, she paid far closer attention, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of the complex seals arrayed inside the container, confirming her suspicions.

Since high-level seals were rare and normally in the hands of Shinobi, traders and civilians alongside poorer Shinobi had to make do with inferior seals. The ones she saw within the water containers were rather odd, in that while they worked from the same system as her own storage seals, they weren't capable of holding more than a certain amount of water. When Hana couldn't take it any longer, she hunted down Sona.

Upon finding the woman, Hana immediately got right to it. "Sona-san, the casks you use, why are they so...limited in quantity?" When the woman raised an eyebrow, Hana elaborated, waving her arms for emphasis. "Couldn't you simply get a seal for a megalitre of water and just fill tha-oooh I get it." Hana smiled at the look that came across Sona's face. "You could, but then you'd lose out on a lucrative trade. And since Kaze no Kuni have no Fuinjutsu masters, they can't do it themselves, nor are any other countries willing to do it for them." When Sona made to warn the girl not to ruin the delicate balance between countries, she was surprised as Hana turned a smirk on her. "I like it."

"You...like it?" She asked, having never met anybody so willing to say such a thing.

"Well, I don't care either way if I'm honest. On one hand, these villages are regularly paying Ryo for something that could easily be fixed for years, only requiring a single trip once every so often to re-fill the seal." She folded her arms across her chest. "On the other hand you, and presumably many other water traders, rely on these deals. I saw that your carts are practically crafted for carrying water. I must admit my curiosity as to what, exactly, you take back with you?"

Sona looked between the girl's mismatched eyes before sighing. "I guess if you're coming to Sunagakure with us anyway, it won't matter. We bring back fine liquids, like wines, beers, and venoms." The last one startled Hana a bit, not expecting it.

"Is that partly the reason why you have a Shinobi escort?" She deduced, and Sona nodded. "Must be some kinda dangerous venom if you need three Chunin to guard it."

Chuckling, Sona shook her head. "Honestly girl, three Chunin are overkill for this stuff. We used to have a Genin team with their Sensei, but they up and got promoted, so they swapped the Genin out for Chunin. Hopefully, by the time we go back to Konohagakure, there'll be a team available. Anyway, to answer your unspoken question, the casks aren't there for show. The seals inscribed on them are made for water only. If I tried to force alcohol or venom into them they'd fail. So, instead, we pull double duty with the containers. The casks hold the liquid that we take back with us. We then wash them out thoroughly, before filling the seals up with water, and bring it here to sell. It's not a perfect system, but it puts food in our mouths and Ryo in our pockets for honest work."

Hana snorted. "Don't know if I would call tricking village chiefs out of Ryo 'honest' work, but whatever." She folded her arms behind herself, walking off whistling a tune to herself, and leaving Sona behind, still rather perplexed by the odd girl who was following her convoy.

* * *

Tossing and turning, Kimura tried his level best to fall asleep. He tried every trick he remembered from his time at the Academy to fall asleep, only to find himself still stubbornly awake. He idly wondered if perhaps it was because they were due to arrive in Sunagakure the next day. With a final huff, he got up slowly, his eyes glancing about as he sighed and racked his brain trying to remember where Hana said she would be taking watch, before turning about to see an Acacia tree on a nearby dune, providing a good overview of the spot the convoy chose to rest, as well as the surrounding areas.

With a quick shake to remove any sand from his clothing, he began approaching the tree, only to stop as he came close enough to faintly hear a guitar playing. As far as he knew, nobody in the convoy had a guitar, so the only explanation was that Hana had it in a seal somewhere.

_"They keep playing sad songs on the radio, and I feel like I'm so alone, on this fifteen-hour drive,"_

As he began approaching again, he heard a faint voice, and when he got close enough to make out the words, he forgot about his plan to take over the watch, and instead crossed his legs and sat down, simply enjoying the singing of the girl.

_"And all the while I tell myself to just believe, 'cause nobody can give so much, and never get anything,"_

He found his hand tapping softly along with the music, smiling to himself when he realized the fact that with a few words and a guitar, she managed to make him lower his guard, and she wasn't even trying to.

_"Everyone I used to know says they don't know what I've become, but I'm still the same, not much has changed, I still don't know where I came fro-o-om."_

He heard her play a few more notes before she apparently messed her music up, cursing quietly before taking a breath. He thought she was perhaps going to leave her tree and made to scramble away and pretend to not be eavesdropping on her, but instead, he heard her playing once more. This time, she said no words, instead, she simply used her guitar to play the same song. This time she got past her previous point, playing for a good few minutes before stopping with a gentle sigh and final strum.

Wisely, Kimura decided to wait a few moments for her to begin a new song before approaching, so he didn't give her the impression he listened to her and waited for her music to stop. Coming in and pretending to be unaware aside from a few moments seemed to be the most likely way to avoid threats to his manhood. When he got within a comfortable distance, he rose a hand to clear his throat, only to freeze once again.

Hana was sat astride a tree-limb, mostly concealed from view, with her guitar in hand, still playing but with her eyes closed. However, what drew Kimura's eyes were the ears atop her head. Not her normal ears, there were fluffy red ears twitching gently along with the music on the very top of her head. What's more, beneath her, there was a red tail dangling freely, swishing about occasionally with the music.

To say the man was surprised was under-selling it. He was completely and utterly baffled by the enigma of a girl currently sat dangling her legs in a tree, with a tail beneath her, fox ears above her, a guitar in her hands and a serene smile on her face. But now, he was faced with a dilemma. If he tried to speak with her now, he would more than likely either scare her off entirely, or make her wary of him and the convoy the entire time she was with them. On the other hand, now that he knew, he could tell that he would never be able to look at her the same way.

With how perceptive Hana was, she would definitely notice the difference in him, and make it a point to figure out what changed, which carried a whole other bucket of trouble. When he laid it out objectively, he just decided to get it over with and say hello to her. With that decided, he slowly began moving again, eventually coming to rest underneath the branch she was seated atop, and clearing his throat.

However, much to his surprise, the girl didn't stop playing, though she did lean around to look at him with a smile. "Heya Kimura, what's up? She asked, careful to avoid raising her voice too loud and wake anybody up. When she saw his face, she frowned. "What?"

"Uhh, Hana, you...may want to take a look at yourself." He said as calmly as he could.

"Hmm, wh-oh fuck." She swore quietly, looking down and spotting her exposed tail. With a defeated sigh, she reached up and felt her ears, before she hooked a foot under her branch and swung so she was upside down, still absent-mindedly playing her guitar, though it was even quieter than before now. Tilting her head to look at him, she gave a sheepish smile. "Surprise? Uhh, part 2 that is."

"Hana, just...just what...I don't eve..." The sensor took a moment to centre himself, and to the man's credit only needed another five moments to do so. "Hana, please explain in a way that I can understand, just what the hell is going on?" He said honestly, looking between her tail, her ears, and her face.

Quirking her lips, Hana hummed for a second before tugging her foot from the branch and dropping down, flipping around in mid-air to land carefully, making very little sound with her landing. She swiftly pulled a scroll from her pouch and dropped her guitar into it before locking eyes with Kimura. "Promise you won't freak out?" She asked softly.

"Hana, you saved my ass from a Scorpion and got exposed for it, then stuck around and helped us out. We both know you could have kept your cover, let me get stung and die. As long as you don't admit to something ridiculous like being caught plotting to kill the Hokage then I think I can handle it." He said earnestly, earning a smile for his honesty.

"Well, I can assure you it isn't anything nearly that bad. I kinda, sorta, maybe, triedtomergeafoxeschakrawithmyownusingaseal?" She blurted out, blushing when he raised an eyebrow. "What? Foxes are damn cute! It's not my fault it didn't work." The last part was said almost silently, and in the meantime, Kimura was having a hard time not bursting out laughing loudly. The only reason he hadn't done so was that he would wake the whole camp up.

"I-aha, oh that's good...Hana, you mean to tell me that, because you decided foxes were cute, you would try to mix its chakra with your own?" When Hana nodded, he shook his head. "Why the hell would you even do that?"

"Well, I heard that Jinchuriki, those guys who hold the demon bijuu things back, could converse with them in their minds. So I figured I could do the same and have a pet fox in my mind!" Hana exclaimed, clasping her hands over her mouth as soon as she said it, furtively looking back at the camp for a few moments before sighing in relief when it seemed nobody woke up. "Please don't tell anybody Kimura." She looked directly at his eyes when she asked that.

Looking back, the man frowned. "Why not?" He said briskly, and Hana winced at his tone.

She stood silently for a few seconds looking at the sand, and the man was honestly contemplating just leaving her here and trying to forget the whole thing happened, before she muttered something quietly. He stepped closer to listen, and she repeated what she said. "I-I told you didn't I? I mentioned when I first arrived that I'd s-seen Konoha before." Kimura's eyes narrowed as she said that, as he still didn't get her point. "But foxes, especially...'Demon Foxes', aren't welcome there."

His eyes snapped wide open when she ground out those words, her voice practically dripping with hatred. "Hana-chan, you know that we'd never see you that way." He intoned quietly, only to be surprised when she glared full-force at him.

"Did you forget how we met?" She grit out through her teeth. "If I came to you without my Henge, showing off my ears and tail to the world, I'd be attacked for a demon the instant you all laid eyes on me. By the time I figured I could trust you, that trust would be outweighed by the betrayal you'd all feel for me keeping such a big secret. Not to mention the hatred that the Leaf seems to hold for any abnormal foxes." With a sigh, Hana turned away from Kimura. "I'll be leaving the convoy tomorrow in Sunagakure anyway, so it doesn't matter."

She stepped towards the tree again, but not without throwing a look over her shoulder at the man. "Believe me, if I were ever to be seen walking through Konoha without a Henge, I'd be locked in Torture and Interrogation faster than you could say 'Demon-Fox'." She said softly, walking up the tree-trunk swiftly and stepping across a branch before settling in. The sensor-nin began walking to the convoy and heard the sounds of her hands swishing about, presuming it to be her applying her Henge again.

As he reached his bedding, he laid down, his mind now plenty exhausted from the revelations of that night, and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Mhm.**

**Hana can never have anything go to plan. Tries to head into Sunagakure with a caravan as a civilian? Gets her henge dispelled by a Scorpion whilst saving a Shinobi from her village. Tries to hide her Fox appendages, has her Henge dispel without her notice and gets exposed to one of them.**

**What next? 'Hana finds true love, only to find out it was Kankuro playing a prank on her.' or maybe, 'Hana re-unites with her brother, only to watch as Orochimaru runs the pair through with the Sword of Kusanagi, right as he proclaims his love for her.'**

**Hmm?**

_**Do that and I'll kill you myself. You don't get to toy around with that kind of thing. HanaSasu will happen, and you'll have to kill me to stop it!**_

**Whaddaya know, for once we seem to actually agree on something. I want HanaSasu to happen as well, I think it's seriously cute to picture, and even more fun to write. Absence makes the heart fonder and all of that business. Gah, if I was allowed to write Lemon on this site, I would be so damn happy. I suppose as it is I'll just have to settle for something...milder.**

_**Oh kami.**_

**Oh yeah, I did honestly plan to have Hana and the convoy arrive in Sunagakure this chapter, but the story just sort of went in a different direction, and having Kimura find out and go to sleep at the end of the chapter with his mind reeling from the revelations, that just seemed to be the best outcome storywise.**

**Of course, Hana is lying through her teeth once again, but this time, she's close enough to the truth that it wouldn't matter. Of course, few in Konoha know what happened to the Demon Fox, so she isn't actually hated. But she saw the festivals they held on her birthday celebrating the 'death' of the fox, and knew that if it was ever revealed that she was, in fact, the Demon Fox, or at least, the Jinchuriki of the fox, the hatred they still felt would all funnel towards her.**

**So, when she fell into her seal by accident and met Kurami, she kept her mouth shut tightly. Make sense? No, well screw it, that's the best I can do.**


	9. Chapter 9

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN BOO'S! Hope you all are having a lovely time. Not much to say up here today, so...MWAH!**

**_Chapter 9_**

* * *

When the convoy set off in the morning, it was pain as day to see that something had happened during the night with the two at the head of the column.

Before, the two ninja would converse throughout the day, talking about anything that took their fancy. Now, they walked silently, and much further apart than before. Even a blind man could have seen it, yet apparently the pair didn't care for such a thing, remaining silent and distant the entire way. When the walls of Sunagakure finally broke the horizon, Sona decided she'd had enough, and walked up to Hana with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Alright, spill it, what the hell happened?" She asked the girl, only to receive a shrug in response. "Oh no, this isn't nothing. You two were friends yesterday, now you look like you murdered each other's parents or something."

"What does it matter?" Hana asked quietly. "I'm leaving today anyway, we'll hopefully never see each other again."

Sona sighed. "Hana-chan, that doesn't mean you should leave whatever this is unresolved. if you do, it'll fester like an open wound, and on the off-chance you do meet again, whatever this is will have become much worse, making it all the harder to resolve."

"It doesn't matter Sona-san." Hana said curtly, and the old trader raised an eyebrow. "No matter what I do, Kimura will hate me soon enough."

"Why?" Sona demanded. "What could possibly be so bad to make him hate you?"

Turning around, Hana walked backwards to look right into the eye of the trader, making her falter slightly. "I can't tell you that." When Sona made to try and convince her, she shook her head. "I seriously can't. If I do...well, I can't even say that. You'll know soon enough, as will Kimura, and he'll hate me for it. By then, though, I'll probably be long gone from Kaze no Kuni. Maybe one day we'll meet again, maybe not."

With a huff, Sona left Hana to her walking, wandering over to Kimura only to find him much the same, refusing to tell her exactly what happened. Even when she pulled the 'I'm the one paying you' card, he refused to tell her, saying it wasn't his secret to tell. It surprised Sona that, considering how adamant Hana was that he would hate her, he still seemed to be protecting her.

Rolling her eyes, Sona just resigned herself to watching the inevitable car-crash.

* * *

As the convoy arrived at the gates of Sunagakure, Hana found herself feeling a veritable cocktail of emotions. She was excited to visit the city, she was afraid that she would be turned away or even detained for some reason, she was happy she could finally put her feet up for a few days as she explored the city, but was anxious to leave at the same time.

When the small convoy rolled up to the gate guards, Hana quietly bade goodbye to Sona, before casting a furtive glance at Kimura, who had his back turned, then walking away from the group, who were bound for the merchant gate. As Hana was not a part of the convoy, she had to make her way around part of the city wall to the regular admissions gate, a much smaller but no less defended entrance.

Before she left, Sona gave her a gift. A little sheet of paper which told the gate guards that a Head Trader vouched for her admission to the city. Apparently Traders were valued enough that having one vouch for her entrance would be more than enough to gain admission to the city. As she walked, she found her gaze constantly drawn to the walls, marvelling at just how tall they were, even if they were still dwarfed by the giant stone crater the city was built within.

Unlike the other Hidden Villages of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Suna was not built on its own. Instead, it was built within a ring of colossal sandstone cliffs, with a single entrance. The only ways into the village were either through that one gap, which had the aforementioned walls and gates, or by climbing the sandstone mesa and dropping into the town. To prevent this, Suna had watchtowers all along the cliffs, keeping a keen eye out for infiltrators.

However, as Hana had permission, and there really was no reason for Suna to turn her away, she made her way over to the regular gate, piece of paper neatly tucked into her pouch, her chakra 'released' to the level she used when around the convoy, making her appear strong enough to handle herself, but not strong enough to be a threat to the village. If she let her signature rise to a High-Jonin, she'd have the Suna version of ANBU all over her, and that was just asking for trouble.

She had taken the liberty of hiding her seal pouch with a henge, keeping a few scrolls of general supplies attached to the inside of her shirt, so as to not draw suspicion. Her Kunai pouch and Senbon were plainly visible though, marking her as at the very least trained, and drawing the eyes of a few Shinobi atop the wall, though her casual gait and relatively handleable Chakra signature allowed her to approach the gate unimpeded. Hana once again thanked Kurami for doing such a good job, promising lots of hugs in return.

As she approached the gate, she noted the relatively small amount of guards, and subtly cast her gaze up and around the gatehouse, gently sniffing and catching a whiff of a third scent, though it was thoroughly masked. As she stepped up to one of the guards, she smiled at him. "Hey there, looking to visit Suna. I've never actually visited a hidden village before, so uh...yeah."

The guard before her sighed before walking away slightly and waving for her to follow him, and she smiled at the other guard before following him. He went over to a box and picked up a clipboard and pen, before turning to face her again. "Alright, here's how admissions work. First-time visits mean registration, then the next time you visit you'll spend far less time here. Fill this all out-" He pointed at the paper before frowning. "-right, are you literate?"

"Uhh, yeah, I can read and write just fine, thanks. Oh, I also have a paper saying a Head Trader vouches for me. She gave it to me for helping escort her convoy here. Does...that do anything for me?" She asked sheepishly.

"Oh, that'll be helpful then. You still have to fill out the form, but you won't have to wait for admission to the city, which can take up to a couple of hours. Soon as you're done with writing that out, we take a photograph of you, give you an identification card, and you're free to enter Sunagakure." The man smiled then. "Well, free in that you'll probably still be observed for a while."

Hana smiled back. "That's fine, I'm used to being watched by Shinobi, it's not a problem. Just, please don't ask me to join the damn village, I already got asked that by the Konoha-nin escorting the convoy I came in with." She folded her arms up. "It's like they take one look at me and decide they have to have me for their village. Have they never heard of mercenary Kunoichi?!" She waved a hand out, but the smile on her face off-set the raising of her voice, making the guard chuckle.

"Well, while I would like to ask you to join our village, I have a feeling it wouldn't work." He replied with a smirk. "Well, I shall leave you to write this form out, just say if you need help with any of it." he said kindly, and Hana nodded, waving at him as he walked back to his post, before focusing on the paper in front of her, leaning her back against the wall with a sigh.

It was a pretty basic form in her eyes. Most of it was very generic information, like her name, her date of birth, gender, country of origin, stuff like that. However, there were a few questions that were rather aggravating to answer, like where she trained, what the strongest Jutsu she could use was, things that honestly, to her, felt rather invasive. With a shrug, she put down Konoha, and that the strongest Jutsu in her arsenal was a C-rank, the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

It was a common enough Fire Jutsu, used by enough Shinobi that Suna wouldn't be interested in it, yet still an adequate representation of her powers. As her Chakra signature was a little higher than the level where the Great Fireball could be used, it was a reasonable assumption to make that she was proficient with it. She spun the pen in her hand as she looked over the paper once, then a second time before nodding to herself.

"Hey, I finished it up." Hana called to the guard, who turned to take the paper, giving it a brief glance before looking back up to her.

"You can use the Gokakyu no Jutsu?" he asked skeptically, and Hana smirked.

"What, don't think a little girl like me is capable of it?" She asked cockily. "I mean, if you really want I can demonstrate it, then it's pretty irrefutable." She nodded sagely to herself. "Hmm, yes, that's an excellent idea."

Before she could do anything, the man quickly waved his hands about to stop her. "No no, please don't do that. I believe you, it's just surprising that a..." He glanced at the sheet again, "Leaf Shinobi would ever teach someone so young such a dangerous Jutsu."

"Well, the family I was born in was constantly getting harassed by rival families, so learning Jutsu to protect myself was a must, and I got tutored for some Jutsu. That particular one...it was a leaving gift. When I told my sensei I was leaving the village, he taught me the signs for it. I guess he hoped it'd keep me safe out here." She shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is it looks awesome!"

"...Right. Well, if you would step this way, we'll take a photo for your identification card, and then we're done."

* * *

Wandering through the Village Hidden in the Sand was quite an experience for Hana.

For the entirety of her new life, the only things she ever saw were the same old buildings. Not once was she ever allowed outside the village. Granted, none of the genin were without a Jonin-sensei, but her sense of adventure felt absolutely strangled after a few years. In her old world, she was free to roam around as she pleased, whereas in this world where bandits run rampant through the lands and Shinobi from several of the other villages would kill her as soon as they looked upon her Hitai-ate, she was forced to remain within Konohagakure her entire life.

Now that she could see a whole new village, Hana definitely felt like she made the right choice to leave when she did. Where Konoha had pseudo-modern buildings meshing with old fashioned wood buildings, Sunagakure had buildings reminiscent to the buildings she would expect to see in the Middle-East or Africa. Sandstone was the main fixture in the architecture, and many of the buildings were domed, presumably to prevent sand from piling up atop them and causing weight issues., though Hana wasn't an architect or physicist, so she wasn't quite sure, it just seemed right.

As she walked through the streets, she felt much the same atmosphere as within Konoha. The people were happy, healthy and friendly enough, though a few gave her rather searching gazes upon noticing her, presumably because she was a new arrival. All those gazes would lift when she would make time to speak with people, to play with the children, and just generally convey a friendly and open personality.

Hey, she might be a Missing-nin now, but that didn't mean she couldn't be friendly. It couldn't hurt to become somebody that the people would see as a friend to their village, and It'd make it harder for Konoha to pressure them into giving her up.

Hana stalled in her walk when she really comprehended that for the first time. She was a Missing-nin. Granted, she wasn't from Kirigakure, who she heard had specialized Hunter-nin teams within their ANBU to hunt down any who left the village, but still. After a little while, any Leaf Shinobi she encountered would be openly hostile to her. Fortunately enough, because her exit from the village was completely non-violent, they couldn't demand Sunagakure hand her over if they knew she was there, which was why she could put her actual place of training down.

Sure, she could lie about it, but if a Konoha shinobi ever blew the whistle on her, Suna would have grounds to punish her themselves for lying on an official document, then extradite her to Konoha to face punishment for leaving the village. Granted, as she was the Jinchuriki for Kurami, they couldn't kill her since, as her precious fox had so helpfully explained, Kurami could only be sealed within an Uzumaki, owing to their vitality. It was also easier the younger they were, which was why the seal on Hana worked despite the hurried preparations.

However, as she had honestly filled out the form, excluding her true strength and the real limit to her arsenal, of course, Suna would have no reason to send her back to Konoha. If she made herself useful within the village, they'd probably even ask that Konoha not attempt to retrieve her. It was a win-win situation all around...except for Konoha, but they could go suck one as far as Hana was concerned.

And she did have to lie, at least regarding her strength and abilities. If she asked Kurami to stop holding her Chakra, Hana would easily qualify for ANBU-level, just because of Kurami's Chakra constantly stretching her coils, another reason for her to love the fox. When Hana was griping about her Chakra one day, Kurami made the suggestion that she allow a small amount of Kurami's chakra to filter in her coils regularly, stretching them out a little each time and expanding them at a far faster rate than normal.

And so, ever since that day, Hana's coils were being forcibly expanded by Kurami, while her Uzumaki vitality ensured she wouldn't ever be seriously hampered by the damage her coils sustained being stretched so often. Within a week, they'd more than doubled their capacity, and Kurami had to start suppressing it immediately to ensure that people wouldn't get suspicious about her sudden rate of growth.

With that strength, her own wishes would probably not have mattered as much, with many clamouring to try and get her loyalty, or at least her obedience, and she really didn't want to deal with that kind of attention, having only just escaped her own village. She was too free-spirited to let a village tie her down. That, and she fucking loathed the fact that children, CHILDREN, were trained from such a young age to kill people. Granted, that was her own modern sensibilities flaring up, and Hana herself had mostly come to terms with the idea of fighting to survive, but it still disgusted her that from around eight years old kids were all but told that being a shinobi is the best thing they could do to support their village.

Hana was too strongly rooted with past experiences to let their indoctrination slip into her mind, but she was forced to watch as these children were basically force-fed propaganda about the 'Will of Fire' and how Konoha was amazing and they should be proud to die for their village. It was disgusting. It was truly disgusting, but Hana could see why they did it. And sure, she was selfish, but she refused to let that be her life. She could see all the cracks, all the little parts of Konoha that the Academy never touched upon.

The empty eyes. The numerous bars. The scars. Those were the things that the bright and hopeful Academy never taught its students. Many of the Kunoichi of her year practically grew up hearing about how being a Kunoichi was such an honour. The way they painted this picture, keeping the students blind, was honestly strange to Hana. They never even remotely prepared the students for what they would be forced to do. Sure, they talked about it, and they pointed it out a few times, but always under the lense of being a proud Leaf ninja.

But, the worst classes were the Kunoichi-specific classes. Namely the sexual education classes. Being told that one day, the village might have need of her to use her body to complete the mission. They phrased it carefully, but Hana saw the undertone. _'If ordered to, spread your legs and do it for the mission.' _It was disgusting that, before they were twelve fucking years old, they were being carefully told that one day they might be ordered to take a seduction mission and spread their legs.

And on the other subject, her most powerful Jutsu was most definitely her own bastardized Hiraishin. If she had put that down, Suna would have put her through the wringer trying whatever it took for them to learn how she managed to use the Hiraishin and then replicating it. She stuck her hands in the tiny pockets on her miniskirt and sighed. The Great Fireball Jutsu was nice, and the scrolls she was reading told her that with an extra seal it could be changed into a flamethrower, but not being able to use her favourite Jutsu was annoying.

Of course, not that she could announce that she was using it, but fortunately enough she could disguise it as a Shunshin, making it appear as though she was using a relatively normal D-rank Jutsu, when in fact she was using an S-rank Jutsu. She had managed to make a variation of her Hiraishin to disperse some smoke when she used it, which aided in giving the illusion of a Shunshin, but she had to be careful to not use it too casually, otherwise questions would start being asked. Her measurable chakra at that moment was enough that a typical Shunshin would go for about a good few hundred meters. Any further and it would start becoming suspicious if she used it regularly.

"Hey, you." A rather monotone voice called out. Hana ignored it, thinking someone else was being spoken to. She idly thanked Kami-sama that the Hiraishin used a fixed amount of Chakra regardless of distance, and she wondered whether or not she could perhaps incorporate her Hiraishin into a multiple-person one, thinking over how exactly she would have to change her seals.

That was the plan at least. A few moments later, something wrapped around her ankle before lifting her upside down, dangling her in mid-air and spinning her to face a red-haired boy, with kanji over his eye, black rings around his eyes and a massive gourd on his back. "Oh, hello!" She said with a smile. "Sorry, didn't think you were speaking to me." She calmly mentioned, her hands still in her pockets, and holding her miniskirt from flipping downwards.

The boy ignored her. "Mother is afraid of you. Why is she afraid of you?" He intoned...tonelessly. Hana opened her mouth to respond, but Kurami piped up before she could.

_**"Oh...Hana-chan, I think I know why. The boy has the signature of my youngest and weakest brother, Shukaku, the 'Ichibi'." **_She said the last word almost silently, and Hana hummed, while the boy beneath her seemed to get more and more restless. **_"I've spoken with him and told him a little about what's been going on, and he's done the same. Apparently these idiots sealed him into the poor boy while he was still in womb, causing him to be born pre-mature and killing his mother." _**Kurami growled slightly mentioning that.

Raising her eyes, Hana proceeded to look directly into the boy's black-ringed ones with a little smile. "I don't know. I mean, do I look very scary?" She punctuated this by lifting her hands above her head, her palms extending out. Considering she was still upside down, it made for a rather amusing sight, though the boy did not smile. If anything, he seemed to get angrier.

"If that's so, why does she scream when I think of crushing your leg like a twig?" He ground his sand against her leg for good measure, and Hana had to resist the urge to wince.

Hana hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe they don't want you to crush my leg. By the way,-" Hana narrowed her eyes and carefully leaned so her face would be as close to Gaara's as possible, "-has anyone ever told you how adorable your eyes are?"

The boy seemed to do a mental restart when she said that, amusing Hana to no end. It was true, she thought his little Tanuki-like ringed eyes were actually quite cute, with the light green pupil-less iris swimming in the white, contrasted by the black outline. if he had the hair of a Tanuki, Hana wouldn't be able to stop herself from cooing at him. Fortunately for her, his hair was far from a typical Tanuki's fur, so she could resist the urge to cuddle him. "Y-you..." He started.

"Me?" She replied with an amused tone, before yanking her leg sideways to remove it from the sand, using that momentum to flip upright and land before the surprised boy. He wasn't just surprised that she got her leg free, despite his focus being on holding it. She had landed less than a meter from him, and yet his sand, which would normally attack any who got nearly as close, made no move to attack her. What's more, she even leaned in closely to his face, seeming to observe his eyes, her own nose a scant few inches from his, and yet his sand did nothing. "Hmm, yep, you just confirmed it. One hundred percent certified cuteness." She nodded sagely, patting the top of his head and frowning at the rather sandy feeling of his hair.

Gaara couldn't take it any more, he lashed out with his hand, willing his sand to converge on the strange girl, while his mother shouted in his head to stop what he was doing. He ignored her for the first time in his life, deciding that this girl was dangerous and should be removed. Considering how close she was to him, she should have been smashed into a puddle in a moment. What ended up happening was that she leaned back, contorting her body to avoid the sand which crashed together harmlessly above her, before lifting a foot and angling it. Along with clever use of Chakra, she anchored her foot to the ground and used her weight to pivot around, tripping Gaara up by sweeping her raised leg into the back of his knees.

Her momentum carried her around and, in less than a second, Gaara found himself going from stood up and about to crush the girl, to suddenly being held in the arms of this girl. It was not a situation he had ever been in. Ever since he had been betrayed by his Uncle and father, he had never been touched by another human, let alone held in such a manner. Despite himself, he found it strangely...comforting. Even raising his hand to the mark on his head, to remind himself of his own self-imposed desire to love only himself, he couldn't find it in him to care at that moment.

"So why do you keep referring to your mother?" Hana asked the bewildered boy.

He looked up at her from his position in her arms with a frown on his face. "B-because she's here. She's always here, always listening." He put his hand to his gourd. "She still fears you, she...she begs me not to do anything...anything 'stupid'." He said slowly. "I don't understand it. Why? Why does she fear you so much?!" He yelled at the girl, only to freeze up when she put her hand in his hair again and tousled it, except this time it was his actual hair, not his sand armour.

"Because she isn't your mother." Hana said softly, playing with the boy's hair idly. "Look, I don't know your name, but whatever, I'm Hana. And...I'm sorry, but what you are talking about, what is currently screaming in fear, isn't your mother. I-...do you know what you are?" She asked softly, and the boy frowned and stared at her blankly. "Typical. We're the same in that regard then." Hana muttered.

"The...same?" He repeated slowly, blinking up at the girl in surprise.

"Yep. Now, uhh, can I have your name, makes everything easier." She said casually.

"...Gaara." He mumbled after a few moments, still in shock over everything happening so quickly.

"Okay then Gaara, here's the deal. Do you have somewhere we can hang out for a little while, with nobody to interrupt us?" She asked, and Gaara nodded. "Great, take us there then." She announced, watching Gaara give her a searching look, before he turned away and began walking, with her falling into step beside him. On a whim, she stuck a hand out and clasped it against his. His arm locked up, but to his credit the boy kept walking, even as he turned his head to stare, first at their joined hands, then at Hana's face, to which he received a smile. "What?"

He turned away from her quickly, though he tightened his grip on her hand, as though she would disappear. _'Looks like I'm picking up strays now.' _Hana thought to herself with a smirk.

After a short while of walking, Gaara brought Hana into a secluded little oasis within the city. There were a few different trees and plants growing, and together the provided a rather dense wall of foliage, enough to keep prying eyes from observing the pair. Letting go of Gaara's hand, Hana took a pair of scrolls from her clothes and placed them on the ground, sitting down with her legs crossed and gesturing at the ground, to which Gaara knelt down into a Seiza and looked at her expectantly.

"Okay, so, just in case, this little number-" She pointed at one of the rolled-up scrolls. "-is a silencing scroll. It only works for a few meters, but whatever, it's enough for us." She laid her hand on it and the scroll activated. "Right, no eavesdroppers. Now, this one-" She pointed at the remaining scroll. "-is a barrier seal. Nobody will be able to walk within 5 meters of us while it's active." She then promptly activated it, before fixing her gaze on Gaara. "So, Gaara, as I said, I'm Hana. Now, when I said we're the same, it's not...quite right in certain ways." With a sigh, Hana thought for a moment. "Okay, let's start early. Do you know what the Bijuu are?" She asked bluntly.

"Yes, father had me learn necessary things like the Bijuu, the Jinchuriki, anything that might be important in the future when defending the village." He said succinctly. "I know there are nine of them, either each one getting stronger as the number of tails increases, and that Jinchuriki are capable of containing and wielding their Chakra and abilities." He finished, folding his arms.

"Okay, that's good I guess. Now, do you know who the Jinchuriki for the Ichibi is?" He shook his head. "Right. So...hmm, perhaps I should go first? I don't know. Ehh screw it. Do you know who the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi is?" Hana winced at the sound Kurami made, mentally apologizing to her.

"There isn't one..." The boy said slowly. "The Kyuubi was unable to be sealed by any who weren't of Uzumaki descent, so the Yondaime Hokage died killing the tailed beast." Hana shook her head, and the boy was rather confused. "Is that not the truth?"

She folded her arms over her chest. "It's a lie I'm afraid. The Yondaime Hokage had a child, and he sealed it within the child when it was barely an hour old, at the cost of his soul, and the lives of he and his wife." This revelation surprised the boy, and he looked upon her face for any hint of deceit. Seeing only honesty, he closed his eyes, and she continued. "And, it just so happens that same Jinchuriki is speaking with another cute little Jinchuriki right this very moment."

The boy snapped his eyes open so fast Hana swore she heard his eyelids tearing. "What?" He asked tonelessly.

"I'm sorry Gaara, but what you hear...that isn't your mother, it's the Ichibi. Your sand abilities aren't granted by your mother, they are granted by Shukaku. Though I get the feeling your mother is still influencing you somehow, based off what Kurami dearest is telling me. Oh, uh, that's the name for the fox, which I contain in case you didn't get the picture." With that, Hana extended a hand. "I...If you'd like, we could go and see her?" She asked, and Hana could have sworn she'd never seen someone so timid before.

After a moment, the boy nodded once, and she took his hand, already feeling for her seal and, with the familiar feeling, she drew Gaara into her mindscape, leaving their bodies sat in place as their mental versions of themselves appeared inside of Hana's seal, stood in the familiar training ground. Almost immediately, Gaara caught sight of the nine-tailed fox charging towards them, and to say he was surprised was an understatement.

Firstly, she was tiny. When he pictured the 'Demon-Fox', he imagined a massive creature capable of levelling armies single-handedly. Instead, she was just slightly bigger than a regular fox. Her tails were notably larger than normal though, which was how he spotted the otherwise small fox in the first place. But, what really shattered his perception of the fox was the fact that when she got close, she leapt straight at Hana, smashing into her chest and wrapping her tails around her.

"Oh hello precious," Hana breathed, wrapping her arms around the fox and nuzzling her, while the fox poked her nose at Hana's neck, "I'm sorry I said it again." She murmured, pressing her nose against Kurami's and looking into her eyes. Gaara stood nearby and watched with a strange feeling in his chest, before a rustling in the foliage drew his attention, and a Tanuki appeared, making Gaara blink.

_**"Well, looks like the gig's up brat." **_The voice was different, it was deeper and more ruffled, but it was certainly the voice that Gaara had heard in his head for his entire life. Before he could question it, the Tanuki wandered over, coming to a stop a few steps from him and sitting on its hind legs, looking up at him. **_"Not like Kurami would ever let me get away with tricking you anymore."_**

_**"And you'd be damn right!" **_The voice, which Gaara presumed came from the Kyuubi, called over from where she was held in Hana's arms. _**"Honestly Shukaku, I knew you didn't like humans, but to torture one for his whole life and pretending to be his dead mother...Hmm, then again, I got tortured by one for the same amount of time..." **_The fox then looked up at Hana, who had a sad look on her face. Kurami tipped one of her tails over her shoulder to nudge her cheek, prompting her to look down at the fox. **_"I'm just joking Hana-chan, you know I don't blame your mother, so please don't do so for my sake." _**She pressed her nose against the underside of Hana's chin, and Hana responded by crossing her legs and sitting down, settling Kurami on her legs and petting the fox, occasionally nuzzling their noses together, not breaking her gaze with her beloved fox.

"I swear, you are the most forgiving and beautiful fox in existence." Hana said as she ran both her hands over the fox, before she blinked and looked over to Gaara. "Hey Gaara!" The boy glanced away from the Tanuki to look at her. "Watch this." She then took her hands off Kurami for a moment, much to the foxes dismay, placing them in a cross to dispel her Henge, revealing her ears and tail to the boy with a smirk. "Pretty cool huh?" She then went right back to petting and playing with Kurami, the two of them enraptured with each other. He turned back to the Tanuki only to find it watching the pair and making gagging noises occasionally.

"I must have fallen asleep..." Gaara said with widened eyes.

_**"Trust me kid, you aren't sleeping." **_The little raccoon-like animal growled out. _**"Even your worst nightmares don't come close to...that!" **_He swished his nose at the pair, who had somehow ended up running about the forest chasing each other. Gaara wasn't quite sure of what they were doing or what rules there were, but it looked like fun. **_"Ugh, fine, go join them." _**Gaara snapped his gaze to stare at the Tanuki, only to find a smug grin. "**_Kiddo, I've been trapped in your head for twelve years, I know exactly what you're thinking." _**Gaara made to argue, but the Tanuki just wandered off, leaving him stood in a daze as he watched Hana and Kurami darting about, completely lost in their own little world, where all that mattered to them was each other.

"...Hey, Shukaku?" Gaara called, and the Tanuki turned from the tree he was about to climb to look at the boy. "I know you...probably won't want something like what Hana has with Kurami. But...maybe, do you think we could ever...get along?" He asked, and was angered when the little animal laughed at him. Just as he was about to give up and find a tree to turn into sand, the Tanuki bounced his way over, sticking a paw out.

**_"All you had to do was ask...partner."_**

* * *

**CUTENESS OVERLOAD!**

_**I think we get it Fire...**_

**BUT YOU DON'T! Only a few chapters and HanaKura is now what I want! KURAMI'S MY BABY! I just want to hug her and pet her and tell her everything's fine! AndmaybeotherheavystuffwhichicantwriteonthissitebecauseBLEH!**

_**You really get attached fast when you adore stuff huh?**_

**Well, yeah. At least you all know I'll never kill Kurami. I adore her far too much for that...NO. NO! IT'S. NOT. HAPPENING! Kurami is a beautiful fox, and Hana is her fox-like best friend and possibly something more now IDON'TKNOW! Seriously, I both love and hate how much I adore her.**

**Screw it, I'm officially changing it. HanaKura is now going to happen, and then maybe a tiny eensy weensy bit of HanaSasu. And to any of you who say I'm not allowed to make a relationship between the two of them, to you I say...fuck you all, I love Kurami now, and thus, so does Hana. Seriously, nuzzling a fox like that...AWWHH! SO CUTE!**

**Oh, right, I'm helping some guy write his own fanfiction. If you want, go look him up. The Fanfiction, at the time of writing, which is the 27th, hasn't been uploaded yet, but maybe by the time this chapter comes out, which if I've got this right is on Halloween, the first chapter will be up!**

**It's called For My Kingdom, and it's by PsychoMonarch701. If it's already out, cool, you guys should see a little note at the bottom like this, it'll be written by me. And if it's not already out, then meh, wait a few more days or whatever.**

_**Wow, already whoring yourself out huh Fire?**_

**Jealous much? Anyways, the next chapter is going to be a doozy...It's the first AO3 one. For those of you not in the know, I've been writing explicit content for this, and uploading it immediately because I'm just that impatient, onto Archive Of Our Own. So...yeah. If you don't like the sound of that, while the chapters will still have the after-math of their relationship, that's all, so you can just avoid reading those snippets. You might miss out on a few small things, but both sites are going to have this story uploaded onto them, with AO3 being the 'full version'. **

**...When I get around to actually uploading chapters 1-9 on there.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Righty-oh! This chapter is where things in the...bedroom side of things picks up. HanaSasu fans, prepare to have your hearts broken, because Kurami's coming in like a wrecking ball to steal Hana away. I may be moving things just a little bit fast, but I want this dammit! Now that my heart is so attached to her, I must have them be EVEN MORE AFFECTIONATE! To the point of...ahem...yep.**

_**Oh god no.**_

**Also, I've now finally set up an ArchiveofOurOwn account, so I can write out, in delectable detail, exactly what goes on in Hana and Kurami's budding relationship. So, if I ever mark out a scene as being written in more explicit detail and you'd prefer to read all that deliciousness, you can head over to my AO3 account and enjoy some lovely Smut.**

_**Dirty pervert.**_

**You love it! So, this chapter will be the first one nominated for that. If you'd like to read the more explicit stuff, here's the link, just go to Ao3 and pop that at the end of the URL...Or just search for Hana Nanashi Explicit Chapters:**

**/works/21208751/chapters/50724401#workskin**

**And, because I fucking know people are going to say it, I already acknowledge that this content goes WAY too fast for a proper and healthy relationship. Seriously, it's a 0 to 300 sort of thing, and you know what? I don't care. Simple as that. Don't like it? Fuck off down the model village.**

**...And now I want to go watch Hot Fuzz again...And Shaun of the Dead...might as well just bring out the Cornetto Trilogy!**

_**Chapter 10**_

* * *

Bounding around the familiar training ground in her true form with Hana chasing her was Kurami's favourite way of spending time within the seal.

Granted, just spending time in her seal with Hana was enough to make her heart sing with joy and love, but there was something that made her heart so much happier when Hana chased her. When she was there with her, it was like the rest of the world just...fell away, and the two could spend days just playing together in perfect privacy.

Right now, Gaara and Shukaku were using it to converse, to truly understand each other and reinforce their bond.

Hana knew that this meant she had the perfect chance to use her own seal for studying dangerous things. Of course, with Kurami also inside the seal, the chance of Hana ever using that time for something other than lying about loving her or playing with her was completely nil, and while Kurami believed she should probably encourage her to at least do some studying, she simply couldn't find it within her to ever not spend every possible moment either within Hana's arms, or being chased about the seal by her.

More recently, however, Kurami had been having strange feelings towards Hana.

Kurami wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, which was par for the course when it came to Hana. When she first met the girl, she saw the Sharingan in her eye and rightfully feared her. Then, when she told her that she thought Kurami was adorable, she felt confused, something she was unaccustomed to. And, when the girl promised to never leave her alone again, Kurami felt such a pure wave of sheer joy she couldn't resist latching onto the girl, burrowing as close to her as she could, with nothing held back as she let her emotions run wild and followed her instincts for the first time in decades.

She even told the precious girl her name, something she had NEVER told a human before, yet within minutes, Hana managed to lovingly carve out a place within Kurami's heart. The sheer pain that flashed through Hana's eyes when she realized that her Sharingan hurt Kurami to look at...it terrified the Bijuu, and at the same time made her heart swell with adoration. She felt such pain, just because something she did to protect herself scared her.

But this new feeling, the longing in her chest to be as close to Hana as possible, to press against her and never let go...Kurami had never experienced it before, and unlike Hana, her past Jinchuriki's seals had been rigid, not allowing Kurami to observe the world, nor anything that her containers went through. Perhaps if Hana's mother had allowed her to see the world, she could have been ready for that Uchiha and avoided his control somehow.

But it left her rather stunted in certain ways. Because Hana was so open, and her seal willingly loosened by the girl to allow Kurami to see what she saw, and feel what she felt. Kurami knew adoration and admiration and love, all because Kurami let her see the world amongst humans, learning their emotions and using them to further convey her absolute trust and love for her container. If necessary, Kurami would willingly give up her Chakra, her life, if it meant she could help Hana in any way.

And, as neither Hana, nor any that she observed, had ever shown this emotion before, Kurami wasn't sure what to do with it. She didn't want to just blindly follow it, because it could end up hurting Hana if it turned out to be a negative emotion. But, on the other hand, it felt really good, as if it were coaxing her, telling her that it'd be alright to just follow her instincts and let them help.

As Hana darted around a tree and stood ready to try and catch her, the feeling swelled once again, and it felt good enough that Kurami decided to simply follow her instincts, which lead to her leaping towards Hana, sending her onto her back and ending up with Kurami stood atop her, which the girl breathed deeply and smiled up at her.

That smile ignited something within Kurami, and she slowly leaned her head down towards Hana's, noticing the slightly perplexed look Hana gave her, though she ignored it in favour of continuing. When her nose got close to Hana's, she stopped for a moment, wondering whether she should continue. As she looked at Hana, she let those thoughts drift away as their mouths got closer together. With a final push, their lips met, though because of her anatomy in her fox-form it was a rather awkward affair with little contact. To make up for it, she let her tongue dart out, pressing wetly against the line between Hana's lips quickly before retracting, and Kurami kept her gaze locked onto Hana's surprised visage with apprehension as she pulled her lips away from hers.

For a few moments they remained like that, and Kurami felt her heart drop as she worried over whether she just ruined everything, and that perhaps this was something humans did in only specific instances, which was why she never saw Hana do it. As she made to move away and apologize, she felt arms wrap around her, and she turned her head back towards Hana's just in time for their lips to come crashing back together. As Kurami opened her mouth in surprise, Hana tilted their heads to opposite sides, pressing her head between the foxes jaws and opening her mouth, slipping the foxes tongue into her mouth as she took it deep within her mouth, eliciting a wave of pleasure to wash over the fox.

* * *

**Since I'm not an expert on Mature vs Mature-adult rating, I'm gonna play it safe and say that if you want to continue reading this, go to Ao3. So far, all the story did was some kissing, and a little french kiss, which I think is still quite reasonable for just Mature content. Otherwise, the story continues after the explicit content is over, though not for very long, this is a very mature-heavy and perverted chapter...As in...6k words of nothing but sexual deviancy...yeah. However, the story itself will continue on here, it's just that all adult chapters will go over there. Also the ending is slightly different. The ending written here is not the canonical ending, it's tweaked to be only Mature, rather than the explicit detail which the original goes into.**

* * *

For a few minutes, the two remained like that. Hana would occasionally shift her body, and Kurami would simply focus on their 'kiss'. When they finally broke away, Hana had regained her wits enough to smirk at the fox. "I wonder..." She slowly rolled onto her side, pulling out a scroll and placing it atop her belly. With a little Chakra, her belly started swiftly deflating, and the girl giggled in surprise. "I really didn't think that'd work..." She admitted. "These-" She waved at the used scroll tiredly. "-were kind of experimental. I wanted a scroll for any liquid..." She said quietly, yawning. "And I guess your semen is still a...-" Another bleary yawn. "-...still a liquid." Hana then relaxed entirely underneath Kurami, closing her eyes and smiling. She was asleep within moments.

With a silent message to Shukaku to tell Gaara they'd be remaining within the seal for a while, Kurami gave her beloved one a final deep and tender 'kiss' before sidling up to her, laying her body between Hana's legs and resting her head in the crook of her neck.

"Sleep well...beloved."

* * *

_**Fucking pervert.**_

**Yeah yeah, you loved it you closet-slut. I really...phew...It's fucking 5AM, I started writing this at...MOTHER-FUCKING DICK-IN-A-BOX BUNGALOW-FLIPPING WHAT?! I apparently started writing this at like...Midnight...I spent 5 hours writing almost seven fucking thousand words of smut?!**

_**...I'm really glad I don't have to live with you Fire...**_

**Meh, whatever. It feels like I just wrote a chapter of Brutal Truths or something, except instead of torture, it's perversion. Mmm, that was fun.**

_**Your parents must be so proud.**_

**Well of course, for I am the Great, the Handsome, the Gallant JIRAIYA!...I don't know his actual quote, that sounds about right though. Also, the ending to this chapter isn't identical to the one written in AO3. It's close, but not quite the same, since describing exactly what position they two went to sleep in would probably break the rules.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Before any of you ask, I'm going to be making occasional references to events that happen in the MA content, as well as things which tie into it. If at any point something sounds like you are missing part of the story, it's probably something mentioned in the Ao3 stuff. Like what Hana does in the early parts of this chapter, it's something which kind of ties into how she behaves around Kurami.**

**I honestly don't know whether the little description at the end of the second paragraph breaks the rules, but I think it's pretty damn tame. Also...yes, I've got a bit of a problem, there's more Smut in this chapter. Here's a link, hope you enjoy it: ****/works/21208751/chapters/50724491#workskin**

_**Chapter 11 - Second Ao3 Chapter**_

* * *

Blinking her eyes open, Hana felt a comforting presence laid atop her body, and she smiled as she recognized weight pressing her down as the dozing form of her new fox lover planted firmly between her legs.

That thought brought Hana's thoughts to a stop, and she felt her body tremble as memories of just what the pair did earlier came through her mind. She slid a hand between their bodies to feel that her own had mostly gone back to normal, another benefit of being an Uzumaki. As she pulled her hips across the ground towards her head, she felt that the pair were joined together still, a smile tip-toeing across her face. With a few gentle tugs, she slowly broke the bond that held the two together during their rest, closing her eyes as she felt the limp object sliding from her body, letting a small trickle of liquid escape her body.

As she tried to remove herself from the weight of Kurami laying atop her, she felt the fox shifting lightly and stopped moving. After a few moments, she watched as her beloved fox yawned, her eyes still closed for the time being, before she put a hand to the large creature's sides and gently caressed the fur there, drawing the fox to open her beautiful red irises, which took a moment to settle before they filled with love, and Kurami moved her mouth closer to Hana's.

With a smirk, she obediently opened her mouth again, allowing Kurami to give her a 'kiss' for a few moments before she drew her lips back, breaking their embrace. "We should...go find Gaara and Shu-..." She said, rubbing her eyes and turning her lips down at the pout Kurami gave her. "Oh precious, I know you want to go again, but it's been at least a few hours already, and I didn't explain the mechanics of the seal to Gaara, so he's probably getting worried about the time." She said with a sigh. "I promise we can do that again soon." She added, and the fox perked up, only licking at Hana's lips a single time before she engulfed herself in smoke, becoming her normal-sized and female form once again. "And using both forms." She finished, before noticing the seal she used earlier laying beside her.

The girl didn't notice Kurami's lustful look, instead grabbing the filled scroll and placing it within her pouch nearby as she nudged Kurami, prompting the fox to hop off her back before she stood up. Glancing about, she laid her eyes on her shorts and miniskirt laying nearby, stepping towards them unsteadily and slipping them up her legs again. With an idle tug, she then put her hands around her neck, settling the scarf around her neck properly again and pulling out a little dirt and grass from her hair. "I'm so glad stuff created in here like dirt and grass doesn't come with me when I leave." She admitted with a smirk, before turning back to Kurami. "So, where are those two?"

_**"Shukaku decided that he was bored and told me so approximately an hour ago, before the pair left the seal of their own accord." **_The fox said, jumping up when Hana outstretched her arms and wrapping a few tails around the girl. She then nosed against Hana's chest. _**"Can we really do that again soon?" **_She asked timidly, and Hana chuckled.

"Yes, we can do this again soon if you'd like, but I want to make sure Gaara is alright. But don't worry, my pent-up little baby, I have a fun idea for our next playtime." The inference of her voice excited the fox as she leaned her head up to lick at Hana's lips briefly, getting a giggle and kiss on the nose for her actions. "Though preferably not as hard next time...Even my vitality hasn't quite fixed everything." She admitted, and Kurami whined softly. "It's not your fault, I told you to do what you did, if anything the fault lies with me." She cuddled the fox closer. "But if you want to, we can do that again."

With a sigh, she knelt down, gently placing the fox against the ground and looking at her eyes. "I promise I'll be back in here later, and you can do whatever you want to me." Hana said honestly, leaning forward to plant a delicate kiss against her beloved foxes lips, the pair darting their tongues out to toy with the others. After a few moments, Hana reluctantly drew back, and with a final caress, disappeared from the seal, leaving Kurami to watch the world from Hana's eyes, alone again.

* * *

"So, Gaara, how was it?"

Hana had only just blinked her eyes open, and from the position Gaara was in, he had been waiting for her patiently the whole time. The tanuki-like boy stared long and hard at her before he grimaced. No, he wasn't grimacing, he was...trying to smile. Hana had to focus hard to not laugh at the poor boy's attempts to smile at her. "It was...helpful." He admitted, dropping his smile when it was clear he was making a mess of it, if the look on Hana's face was any indication, even concealed as it was. Gaara had gotten used to spotting little tells, using it to discern when someone was trying to use him for their own benefit rather than his.

"Good." She said succinctly before she reached behind herself. "Please work." She breathed, and Gaara watched as she pulled a storage scroll from somewhere. "Oh yeah..." She bit her lip and closed her eyes after she glanced over the scroll. "...I can work with this." Gaara was about to ask exactly what she was talking about, but before he could do that she stood up quickly, de-activating the two seals around the pair and smiling at him. "Well, today's a day of revelations and discovery I guess. By the way, I didn't explain it, but you might be wondering why I look so damn dishevelled."

The boy smirked, glancing over her body before looking up at the Sun. He and Shukaku had spent a long time conversing, long enough for the lighting within Hana's seal to completely change, and the Sun was now starting to lower in the Sky. "That is one of my questions, yes."

"I'm glad you asked. See, it seems that, at least according to my little brother, my physical body actually enters the seal. Because of that, injuries and the like sustained within are brought out. I can also choose to bring things into and out of the seal. For example, I bring things like my clothes, equipment and whatnot in just fine. I tried bringing an animal in once, but that didn't turn out so well." Hana grimaced at the memories of that. She had attempted simply sealing a fox and entering the seal with it, after her last attempt proved inconclusive, only for a rather nasty slurry to pour out of the seal when it was released. "You are ...a little different. I guess because you already have Bijuu chakra in your system, my seal accepted you transferring into it with me. I don't exactly care for the specifics, I wasn't even sure you would come with me, but it never hurt to try..." Hana blocked out the mental image of the fox seal attempt again and smiled serenely.

"I would hope that entering your seal isn't going to bring me side effects like...those." he gestured to her animal traits, and Hana just shook her head. "Good. Well, my father is probably rather 'worried' about my random absence, so I must take my leave. I...want to thank you, Hana, for doing this. I know you didn't need to, nor has a third party told you to do so, at least I hope. And for that, I thank you. Might I ask, what do you plan to do now?"

"Now?" Hana chuckled. "Now I'm gonna keep exploring Suna, pick up a few trinkets, toys, bits and bobs, do a few experiments. And, of course, spending as much time with Kurami-chan as I can." She sighed dreamily as another delightful fantasy crossed her mind, before a different thought slunk into her mind and it vanished. "Gaara...while my seal is strong enough to support that, your own seems far inferior, since it's not designed to hold an immensely powerful being like Kurami-chan. Not to say that Shukaku is weak, far from it, but in comparison to my own, your seal is enough to hold him back most of the time, but it has little extra strength to handle anything else. Because of that, I doubt you'll ever be able to have a mindscape...Sorry.

"I...see." He intoned, being startled when Hana stuck her hand out to him. "What?"

"Oh come on, you must know what a handshake is!" When the boy just looked at her blankly, she huffed. "Put your hand in mine." She did so slowly, and she clasped around it. "Then...you shake." She shook their hands up and down, and she had to stop before she burst out laughing at Gaara's completely lost face. "Alright...maybe smaller steps. Whatever." She turned away from him then, and he heard breathed muttering, though he couldn't make out what she said. When she turned back at him, she had a searching gaze on her face. "Do you...actually have anyone who can help you with...y'know, social stuff?"

Gaara tilted his head and after a few moments of deliberation nodded. "I suppose my siblings. They've always been afraid of me, but perhaps they can help me understand this 'social stuff' you speak of." Hana nodded sagely, stepping up to the boy and ruffling his hair again.

"Good. And, just to reassure you, I got these-" She touched her ears. "-by doing something stupid with Fuinjutsu and paying the price. Then again, I regard these as two beautiful and amazing things, so it was actually me getting a reward for intelligence! Now then, I'm gonna be off, I made a promise, and I intend to fulfil it, so...see ya." Before he could ask what she was talking about, she darted off, leaving Gaara behind in the secluded oasis with a wave over her shoulder to say goodbye.

The boy watched after her until she disappeared through the dense oasis trees, before making his own way towards the village, intent to ask his sister just what Hana might have been talking about.

* * *

Kurami was rather nervous.

After she left Gaara, Hana had practically begged the fox to stop observing from her eyes for the rest of the day. Despite her wishes to keep watching, Hana managed to get her to promise not to look, and while she was tempted several times, she didn't want to break that promise. Besides, at any point, Hana could speak with her and tell her she could look again.

After a few hours of boredom where the fox hopped about the forest, she felt Hana entering her seal, and bounded over joyfully. When she finally saw the girl, she skidded to a stop, having seen the large bag in her arms and tilting her head. **_"Hana, what's that?"_**

"Oh, Kurami, I'm glad you asked." She placed the bag on the floor and spread her arms, letting the excited fox leap up into her arms. With a nuzzle, she then kissed the foxes nose before placing her down again. "But, I want to do something first." She then reached behind herself, pulling out a black strip with metal in it, though she hid it so Kurami couldn't tell what it was. "Now, sweet, you trust me?" Kurami rolled her eyes and nodded. "Then look away for a few moments, please." She asked, and Kurami gaave her and her hand a searching glance before yipping and nodding, turning away from the girl.

A few moments passed, and Kurami's anticipation kept rising, almost begging her to turn and see what Hana was doing. About twenty seconds passed before she heard Hana hum softly. "Okay Kurami, you can turn around now..." She said, and the fox spun quickly, her jaw dropping as she looked at Hana.

* * *

**That's right, another scene of this...Why? because fuck it, I wanted to.**

**Again, if you want to read the adult content, you can head over to Ao3. Or you can just keep reading and imagine what happened between them this time. I know which one I'd pick.**

* * *

"-Because...I love you..." She touched the collar, before slowly, as to not disturb the flow of liquid into her body, pulled her leash up into a bundle on her hands, and placing it underneath Kurami's face, her unspoken question clear.

As her liquids drained into Hana's body for the second time that day, Kurami gave the girl a slow nod, her tongue darting out to kiss her lips, before she nosed her collar and looked into those loving mis-matched eyes. The eyes of the one girl who gave her everything, only asking that she be allowed to do so, and the fox felt her heart throb with sheer desire as she shifted her body against Hana, eliciting a keening moan from her. She used her open mouth to slide her tongue in, playing with Hana's own for a few moments before she drew back, breathing the few words that, while they'd been said before, never were spoken with as much feeling as when she uttered them huskily, her mouth less than an inch from Hana's ear.

_**"I love you too, Hana."**_

* * *

_**Per-**_

**Yadda yadda I'm perverted, get over it. I like writing lemons dammit. I mean, I like writing on this site as well, but writing explicit content is also really fun and entertaining, and it lets me explore my own kinks without breaking the law several times over.**

_**...Right.**_

**Hush.**


	12. Chapter 12

**More Smutty goodne-**

_**NO! Bad Fire! No! Get your fingers away from those keys.**_

**Bu- **_**No buts. No more smut for at least two chapters!**_

**Awh! How about a compromise. This chapter won't have any real Smut, and will be over 3000 words, but the next one begins with some Smut, leading off the end of this one?**

_**...Fine!**_

**Hooray! By the way, how are you guys liking the daily chapters? It's a little pressing, but since I'm currently working on Chapter 18, it's not so bad. As long as I keep ahead of the curve, I can keep whacking these out once a day, and even take a little break if I need it.**

**Also, For My Kingdom got its first chapter last night. Again, by PsychoMonarch701, so go check that out if you want.**

_**Chapter 12 - The No Smut Bandit Strikes Back!**_

* * *

Waking up in her seal snuggling with Kurami was most definitely Hana's new best way to wake up.

True, she had spent plenty of time in her seal with the fox anyway, to the point she had probably awoken within it a few dozen times. But, there was something special about actually waking up with her fox laying down atop her, the pair of them joined together on their most intimate levels, that made Hana purr in content. Then panic and glance at Kurami to make sure she didn't hear her purring.

Of course, it didn't help that both times she woke up under Kurami, Hana had ended up on her chest, with her back facing Kurami, and making it rather difficult to get out from under the large fox considering how she was locked in place by the foxes extra appendage, but she made do. It was irritating that she couldn't use Kawarimi to just swap out with a stick, since Kurami wasn't being counted as 'attacking her'. Even if her butt ached from being pulled wide for such a long time.

On that thought, Hana said a hand to her neck and shoulders. Kurami had bitten her quite a few times during their activities, and all the smaller marks had disappeared against her wishes. However, the one on her neck, the one she had dug her teeth into the hardest, still remained, thanks in no small part to Hana practically yanking her Chakra away from it. She could feel the slightly puffed tissue, as opposed to the perfectly smooth skin the other bite marks were on. Of course, it was a little crusty as the blood had dried long ago, but she knew that she had managed to prevent her Vitality and Chakra from just healing up the bite-mark and leaving her skin clear. She wanted those marks on her body, dammit!

Smiling as she gently ran a finger over the newly-forming scars, Hana slowly tugged herself out from under Kurami, pulling their bond apart and shuddering at the feeling. With an idle thought, she ran a finger atop her new collar, rubbing her slightly sore throat from being held so tightly while she slept. She could even feel two light ridges that had been dug into her skin by the edges of the material. She slowly drew her knees up and eked her way out from under the fox, smiling when she murmured in her slumber and made vague grabbing motions with her paws.

But, while she wanted nothing more than to simply slide right back under the fox and spend hours cuddling, she did have things she wanted to do during the day, and didn't want to forget them by spending the entire day attached to Kurami. So, with a sigh, she leaned down to plant a kiss on the foxes head, patting her ears. She quickly formed her Henges and left her seal, taking a few moments to remember exactly where she was positioned and smirking as the exact image that she had in her mind was formed in her eyes, though she immediately had to yawn and stretch, as it was still early morning.

As she twisted about to reach for her pouch and grab a scroll for some breakfast, she though on her new relationship with Kurami, a smile playing across her lips as she touched her slightly-worn out body with a sigh. Ever since the first time Hana got nipped by Kurami and found out that her seal translated to her body, the pair were rather careful about her sustaining injuries. But, on the other hand, it meant that their activities translated into reality, and Hana foresaw that all her time within her seal was going to be monopolized by Kurami in a very intimite way.

For Hana, that sounded like heaven. Where she woke up, however, was most certainly not heaven. It was pretty, but not quite as pretty as her mindscape. Mostly because there was no Kurami there. Since Gaara had brought her here to this oasis, she had simply decided that she'd save money and camp out within the oasis. By camping out, of course, that meant that Hana simply went into her seal. According to Sasuke when she got him to observe her, her entire body just vanished, re-appearing in the same place she was originally sat in. When he placed an obstruction in the way, Hana found her body repositioned slightly, just barely enough to avoid the new object.

To that end, the oasis was perfect, as it was extremely calm and relaxing, with gentle water running and the rustle of trees. But more importantly, nobody seemed to enter it. Because of that, both times she'd entered her seal within Sunagakure, she had done it within the oasis. However, she hadn't seen Gaara, which mildly worried the girl, as she was sure he would have questions for her. But she could worry about that later.

She had things to find.

* * *

"You want...what?"

The shopkeeper asked Hana in a disbelieving tone, and the girl sighed. "If you have any, or know where to obtain it, I would like to purchase some potassium nitrate, or you might know it as saltpeter. If you don't store it, nor can you obtain it, I'd settle for ammonium nitrate. If you can do neither, if you know where I can obtain some, I'd appreciate it." She said with a shrug.

The man gave her a hard look. "And why would you want that?" The man ventured hesitantly.

"Does it matter?" She retorted sharply. "What I do with it is my own business thank you very much. Now, either you can answer my question, or I shall simply take my business elsewhere." She ended firmly, and the man just sighed.

"While we do not have it currently stocked, I can order some in from our suppliers. It is definitely a...unique material you are looking for, however. Some might say a speciality item. As such, the price, both from the specificity of the request and the fact it is a custom order, will be heightened, I hope you understand."

Hana waved a hand nonchalantly. "That's fine, I don't need much, I assume the price is rate-based, rather than a fixed increase due to the custom-order. If not, buying in bulk would be preferable. However, if it is based on a percentage of the price of the item, I would rather only purchase what is necessary."

"It is as you say. If you purchased material worth a hundred ryo, you would pay an extra fifty because of those two rates. Two hundred ryo would make it an extra hundred." She bartered with the man for a few more minutes, finally settling on a specific amount and shaking on it. She left a down-payment of half the necessary ryo and received a receipt, proving the deal and half-payment.

Not that she was worried the man would try to take her ryo. Even without her Hitai-ate, she still looked like a ninja. Her fishnet shirt was a pretty big give-away, but the biggest give-aways were the Senbon around one leg, Kunai holster on the other. No sane civilian would willingly try to screw over an openly armed ninja, no matter how young they appear.

Her next two stops were much the same. She found a trader who made trips from the Land of Hot Springs and managed to wrangle a deal out of him to bring back some of the Sulfur prevalent within the country, for a generous rate as well. Fer final stop on her quest was a far simpler affair, she didn't even need to purchase anything. Charcoal was by far the easiest material to find, since it was commonly used by blacksmiths to get their forges up to heat.

Of course, they had to swap to bituminous coal if they wanted to actually smelt Iron for the ninja weapons they so commonly made, but charcoal was still prevalent enough that Hana could easily get her hands on it, though she didn't do so straight away. While she could just seal the charcoal away, she didn't see a need to, considering that unlike Sulfur and Saltpeter, which were far less common, she could walk into almost any town and be sure to find at least a little charcoal around for sale.

With all that done, she had hit the limit of what she could do for that project, and now had to simply wait for her material to come to her. While it irked her that she would either have to wait within Suna, or leave and risk her down-payments being taken and her purchases being re-sold, she decided that she could, instead, simply take up another project. She had a few that she had wanted to try out for a while, even before leaving Konoha, but never got the time or the chance to. Some of them would be incredibly frowned upon, with others being outright impossible within her home village.

As she walked past a random merchants stall, she saw a little 14-jointed puppet, barely ten inches in height, sitting in a rather cute position on the table. It was a plain puppet, with a slightly blocky but mostly round head. Outside of the chest-carvings, nothing, in particular, stood out about it, but Hana still found herself drawn to it. "Hey, Oba-san, how much for this puppet?" She asked softly, making the old woman at the stall turn her head to look at her.

"...210 Ryo." She said, staring at Hana and making the girl tilt her head. It sounded like a lot, but really it was a rather small amount. She had long since worked out that the exchange rate for Ryo was something like 14 Ryo to a single British pound. But, to look at the puppet, something clearly hand-carved, with beautifully-intricate swirls and carvings on the torso, and think it worth about the same as fifteen pounds...it baffled her.

Then again, in her new world, pretty much everything was made by hand, as they had no machines to automate everything. In Konoha, there was certainly technology, as evidenced by the electric lights, and the fridges, and the video tapes. But, for some reason, it was almost like her new world was unbalanced. They had the technology for certain things, but never followed through with others. "I'll take it." She announced immediately, forking the Ryo over gladly and grabbing up the puppet, levering its arms about and twisting its head about.

It had twistable joints in its neck, chest, both shoulders, elbows, wrists, the top of either leg, both knees and ankles. This meant it was almost fully flexible, and capable of twisting on its joints to turn parts of itself all the way around. With a wave to the stall-vendor, Hana made her way to her oasis, puppet in hand.

"This is gonna be awesome."

* * *

"JUST WORK DAMMIT!"

Kurami jolted when she heard Hana yell again, though she controlled herself enough to not fling the girl away from her body...again. Hana had been sat, her collar still tight on her neck under her scarf and her back against Kurami's larger form, constantly binding and unbinding Chakra Threads to her newest acquisition in an attempt to control it. By Kurami's reckoning, a good few hours had already passed. Occasionally, like a few moments before, she would reach a crescendo and just yell at her puppet, lifting her arm as if to throw the puppet away only to stop and settle back down.

While she didn't like to see Hana upset, it amused the fox how her beloved could get so irritable over such a tiny object. Seeing that piece of wood in her hand brought a smirk to the foxes lips. **_"Hana-chan, maybe you should try to find someone to help?" _**She asked softly, tilting her head to lean over her shoulder, and pressing the girl to her in a hug. **_"I'm sure you can find somebody to at least point you in the right direction."_**

Hana huffed quietly at that. "As if. Suna is notoriously protective of how their 'Puppet Brigade' operates. I can understand the theory behind it all just fine." When Kurami hummed in feigned agreement, Hana pouted. "I do!" The disbelieving look in Kurami's face made her frown, though it was just as fake. "Beloved, you know I wouldn't lie, not to you, I do honestly...I think at least...know how they did it." The tongue flicking out of Kurami's mouth to kiss her made the girl smile.

_**"I know Flower, I just think you've possibly left something out. So, this puppeteering, how do you think they did it?" **_The fox knew that to ask this was just begging for Hana to spend an hour teaching her, but for the moment, Kurami couldn't find it within her to care. She shifted slightly so her neck was on Hana's shoulder more comfortably, and turned her head to gaze at Hana's enraptured eyes.

"Well, I know it has to do with Chakra threads, but when I first looked at it, I couldn't see how they could even control a puppet with a single finger. I can see using all ten of your fingers, tugging on each joint and moving them like that, but...controlling a single puppet with a single thread should be impossible." Hana then smirked. "But I figured it out. The puppeteer does use only one thread, but it winds across the entire puppet, latching onto each joint. Then, they would contract and extend that specific part of thread, simultaneously and unconsciously controlling all the others to keep the thread the same length elsewhere. Doing this, with a single string, they could control all the joints of a puppet."

Hana reached her hand up from its place to caress the underside of Kurami's chin. "Of course, to do something like that would require absurd concentration and countless hours of practice, something I am not willing to do." She then held the puppet up in front of the pair's faces. "But I think I could handle enough training to control one puppet in combat, without having to spend too much time training for it. Even a single extra set of hands would be incredible. I do also have another plan for my puppeteering, but I'm keeping that a secret." She then conspiratorially leaned in against Kurami's ear. "But I guarantee you'll love it." She pecked her beloved's cheek, then went back to looping strings over her puppet, getting a feel for exactly how to move each joint using a finger. Because the puppet had a total of fourteen joints, she decided not to attempt controlling the shoulders or the joints at the top of its legs.

When Kurami noticed this, she leaned down to look closer at the puppet, her fur brushing against Hana's cheek and making her giggle. _**"Beloved, why are you not attempting to control those parts? Surely you could simply loop the strings for the elbows onto them?"**_

"Ahh, but I don't need to. You see, not every joint needs to be strictly controlled. If I lift the elbow, the shoulder will move to accommodate the motion. The same with the legs. Raising the knee will bend the leg at the hip. Of course, to afford even finer control, you'd use all joints, but it works for crude motions." She demonstrated, pulling on one of the strings and making the puppet's entire arm move. Kurami watched with interest as she observed the arm bending and raising at the elbow, with the shoulder twisting about to allow the arm motion. Hana then lifted the arm high and twitched the wrist back and forth, imitating a crude wave, before raising the puppet's knee and making it smack its thigh, before letting the puppet drop its limbs into a casual pose again.

When Kurami went to congratulate her, Hana cut her off by sighing. "But that right there is the problem. To do that, I have to control two different strings, and it's already incredibly hard to do, manipulating those chakra strings to move the way I want them to. And even then I cheated a little. When I made the puppet wave its hand, the arm had stopped moving, so I didn't have to think beyond holding it in place. Same when moving the knee. Trying to use two at once...I think I'd attribute it to using two hands, or paws, at the same time. It's hard, but you can do it. However, trying to control three joints at the same time is like growing out a third hand and using that to help, it's incredibly disorienting. If I didn't know better, I'd say it's impossible."

The girl sighed, leaning back into Kurami and feeling the fox lay her head down on Hana's chest. She wrapped her arm around the big foxes neck and hugged her with one arm, her other looped around the wrists, ankles and neck of her puppet, tugging it about idly. _**"Could you perhaps use a seal to help you?" **_She ventured, and Hana shook her head with a hum, making the fox frown.

"Nothing would really help. It's not about weight or Chakra or anything, I just can't focus on so many different things at once, it isn't who I am." She said sadly, and Kurami pulled her head back to press her nose against Hana's cheek. "I can fight head-on, and deflect attacks just fine, but when it comes to thinking about controlling each limb of a puppet using a bunch of strings...it's difficult. I know I'll do it eventually, but still, it's frustrating not being able to do so." With a smile, she turned her head to gaze straight at Kurami. "But I'll do it, that's what counts." She kissed the fox gently. "Just like when I learnt to play that guitar..." She added with a giggle.

Kurami had a smile on her lips as she nuzzled her love. **_"Yes, that guitar. How many guitars were broken in anger before you managed to learn such a song?" _**She japed happily, her lips curled up as Hana blushed and looked away. **_"Was it seven? Eight? I can't recall."_**

"Sh-shut up!" Hana said, pushing the foxes head away lightly, her blush growing. "Ten." She quietly added, and the slightly chuckling sounds coming from Kurami made her smile. "Though if I recall, it took you more than ten days to figure out just what you were feeling for me." She retorted with a poke, making the fox huff lightly.

_**"Which is hardly my fault. All I know of feelings came from what I have seen in your eyes. As you have never shown me this specific feeling, I didn't know what to do with it. You'd only ever had that for Sasuke, and somehow"**_ She gave a smug look at Hana, who huffed._** "-that relationship seemed different to what I felt for you. So in the end I had to rely on my instincts, and here we both are." **_She easily wiggled out of the little trap Hana had put her in with a grin. _**"And I believe you would rather I not treat you as you treated your brother."**_

A grin that widened when Hana pulled her head back to herself, kissing her lips happily. "And I'll be happy you did that until the end of time." She breathed honestly, closing her eyes and pressing herself against Kurami's comforting fur-covered body with a sigh. As she reopened her eyes, she found Kurami looking up at her eagerly, and she rolled her eyes. "You really are worked-up today, hmm?" The whine Hana heard made her giggle as she saw the fox lick her lips and nod eagerly.

"My pent up little fox..." She muttered, closing her eyes as she opened her lips...

* * *

**I couldn't resist. The next chapter picks up where we left the pair. So, if you want to jump right into that, there'll be a link at the top of the page, like usual. Otherwise, the next chapter on here will begin with them finishing up their 'canoodling'.**

_**I swear, you have a problem.**_

**Meh, I enjoy writing this, so I don't see any issue.**


	13. Chapter 13

**As I said, chapter begins with smut. It continues on the very end of their session. here's a link, but be warned, you should read the notes at the top, just in case it deals with a kink you particularly shun. I won't tell you what it is, the story over there tells you, but just...yeah. Anyways, here: **

_**Can you not keep it in your head for more than one chapter?**_

**No. I can't. HanaKura is fucking cute, and now it's just...what I am enjoying writing, and I want it, and more of it, because hell yeah. I mean, I don't like the insinuation that it's a Stockholm Syndrome situation, where Kurami came to see Hana as her beloved just owing to the fact she was a prisoner within the seal. If you read their relationship, and get that kind of take-away...just go fucking read Chapter 4 and tell me Hana's sheer love and adoration for Kurami isn't genuine as fuck. They both adore each other, and it pushed to something more when Kurami just decided to follow her instincts.**

**It's a bit of infatuation as well, but there's enough to their relationship that I think I can get away with that.**

**Anyways, enough of that, and on with the chapter...(Been ages since I started a chapter like this. Anyone remember those good ol' days? I really should write a chapter of Crimson Dovah...)**

**_Chapter 13 - Third Ao3 Chapter_**

* * *

With a quick hop, the small, thoroughly soaked fox jumped up onto Hana's chest, watching as the girl lethargically wrapped her arms about her and brought her close for a gentle kiss on the nose. "Th-...Thank y-you for that, Kurami-Chan...I love you." The fox nuzzled Hana's nose with her own before she turned around herself, curling up and settling contentedly on Hana's upper chest, her face pressed against Hana's neck.

_**"I know,-"**_ The fox murmured softly. **_"I love you too."_** Was the foxes response as she closed her eyes, lulled to sleep by the sound of Hana's heartbeat, with a smile on her lips.

* * *

"Kunoichi-san! I didn't expect you back so soon!"

The sound of the merchant calling to her made Hana smile, and she gave a wave even as she idly perused the wares of the elderly merchant. "Just browsing Oba-san." She called, getting a chuckle for her words. "Though, you wouldn't happen to know any Puppeteering tricks? I've been trying for the past few days, and I still can't do very much with my own." She admitted.

The elderly woman simply shook her head with a sigh. "Afraid not Kunoichi-san, I merely make these things, I'm not capable of using them like that. At least, not as you ninja are capable of. Perhaps you would find more luck at the ninja library?" She ventured, making the girl frown.

"I doubt they'd allow me to learn something Suna has always held so notoriously close to their chests. It'd be like asking the Uchiha to teach their Jutsu to the Hyuuga, it'd never happen." She said with a shrug. "And even setting aside the fact I'm not from the village, if the village started showing me favour for no well-explained reason, it wouldn't end well, for me or the village." She said vaguely, crossing her arms. "I just can't quite figure it out. At this point, I wonder whether the Puppet brigade actually has a Fuinjutsu user inscribing their puppets for control of some kind."

The woman smiled at her. "Well dearie, it can't hurt to ask them, now can it?"

"Hmm, well it could, but I have ways to escape if things get a bit tense...but it could get me blocked from entering the village if I just ran away when it got hot...Argh, fine, I'm gonna go ask the library if I can do some Puppet research. if they turn me away I'll just try to find a Puppeteer and ask them to teach me some tricks." She announced, turning away from the stall and taking a step down the road, calling out to the woman. "Thank you Oba-san." She said cheerfully as she left.

"Kunoichi-san!" She heard the merchant call, and turned on her heel, only to see the merchant pointing the other way. "That way." She announced with a smirk, making the girl sigh and stride off quickly in that direction, muttering a quiet 'Thank you.' once again to the woman as she passed her by.

* * *

As it turned out, Hana's predictions were...somewhat correct. The library didn't want to let her in, but not for the reason she was expecting. Instead of it being because she announced up-front and firmly her desire to learn how to puppeteer...apparently the Kazekage himself had noted her presence and requested her to meet with him as soon as possible. She just had the good, or perhaps in her current situation the bad, luck of not being spotted by anybody who knew this in the few days she'd been within the village. Try as she might, she couldn't really come up with any good reasons as to exactly why he would want to meet her.

At least, until she thought about Gaara, and she had to refrain from slapping her own head and making herself look even stranger before the guards. Of course, she had all but made the village's Jinchuriki disappear for a good few hours and probably changed him completely. And she'd never even told Gaara to not mention her, or her hidden animal parts, nor any other measures she really should have taken to keep herself safe.

Of course, with two guards eyeing her, she couldn't just turn around, pretend she never heard the Summons and run off to the land of Hot Springs to hide from their questions, because it was sure to get back to the man, and Hana didn't want to deliberately piss off the man who could decide on a whim to bar her from his village or detain her and send her to Konoha. She still had her Hiraishin marks she could retreat to, and if absolutely necessary she could head back to the spot she'd marked when she let the convoy, so she felt safe enough to nod and follow one of the guards to the imposing Kazekage tower.

As she glanced around at all the domed buildings, Hana took a moment to appreciate the architecture. While she would never have given up her own work in writing, she still felt amazed seeing those monumental buildings, some of which, to her untrained eye, looked distinctly unsafe. When she raised this thought, pointing at a building which had its entire top half overhanging the bottom half, which considering its size was rather dangerous-looking, the man just chuckled, not explaining it and most certainly not making Hana feel any safer as they walked near it.

Fortunately, they passed the buildings quickly, coming up to the open area surrounding the Kazekage tower. It looked like, to Hana's eyes, a giant pot. It had little bars of 'windows', a large indent in the building with about eight or so spherical windows lined up horizontally, smattered across the structure. About three-quarters of the way up, a large band ran around the building, with regularly spaced spherical windows running all the way around the building. It continued above this a little way before rounding off, thus making the whole thing look like a pot.

As they walked, she pointed this out to the man, making him stop in place and gawk, both at her, then the building, in disbelief. "Just say it." She muttered, slapping down a silencing seal for good measure.

"How the fuck did I never notice that?!" The man yelled. "Oh, and thank you for that." He quickly added when he saw the seal, making Hana smile.

"Don't worry about it." She made to pull the seal up, by stopped herself. "I'm sure you'd not like to be seen questioning something like that so loudly and crudely." She stuck her tongue out at nothing in particular. "Not that you should care. I mean, back in my home, I slept on mattresses, because it's fucking comfy. Seriously, all these people telling me I should have a bed-frame or something. Fuck no, I want my three-stacked mattresses back, with a nice thick duvet underneath me for added fluffiness." She said with a reminiscing smile and a sigh.

The man just sighed. "That sounds stupid yet smart at the same time." He said wearily, before stepping towards the tower and stopping, allowing Hana a moment to recollect her seal, but not before she muttered something he didn't quite hear. Deciding it probably wasn't worth the time to ask, he just continued on towards the tower, the odd girl trailing behind him. "So, if I may, why does Kazekage-sama wish to see you?"

"I...have no idea honestly. Well, I mean, I sort of have an idea, but I'm not sure about it. Maybe he's interested in why I'm here? Or what the hell I'm doing perhaps...Maybe he just wants to know where the fuck I've been sleeping." She then blushed and quickly blurted out. "I swear I didn't mean to insinuate he was a...huh...I don't know what to call that actually...voyeur isn't right, he's not really a paedophile...huh. Maybe just a pervert. Yeah, let's go with that. I didn't mean to call your Kazekage a pervert." She nodded to herself.

"I should hope not." A rumbling and strong voice interrupted Hana, and she turned slowly to see an auburn-haired man with black pinprick-sized eyes and a canister hanging from his hip, kind of similar to a thermos from her old world. His outfit honestly looked to Hana a little like a black hoodie, and as she looked closer the realized the man actually was wearing a hoodie, with a fishnet shirt under it. He had a set of black track-suit style trousers which came to about a foot above his ankles, with wrappings covering the skin to his sandals.

She idly noted the man escorting her had tensed up, and she looked the man over again, searching his body for weapons. He looked moderately strong, though appearances were incredibly deceiving in the new world, as evidenced by herself. His little thermos-thing was probably some kind of weapon, or maybe a way to contain his weaponry, as she saw no hints of any Kunai or Senbon on his body. While he could have them spread out, it was unlikely, as there were only so many places he could feasibly store them and still get at them during a fight.

Deciding to play it safe, Hana deferred to the man. "I would hope so too, it wouldn't do to insult the man in front of his face. I hope the two of you will not tell him of this?" She gave them both glances, noting how while the man chuckled, the guard beside her seemed incredibly panicked and unsure of what he should do in his situation. Hana was markedly confused at this, as she didn't recognize the man as anybody noteworthy within the Suna or Konoha bingo books, meaning he wasn't someone they should be wary of.

"You may go." The man announced, looking at the guard and raising a finger to his lips. Immediately the guard darted off, leaving Hana alone with the mysterious stranger. "Well, may I escort you to the Kazekage Office?" He suggested, offering his arm for Hana and making her give him a beaming smile.

Looping her arm in his, the pair began taking the final steps to the entrance for the building, with her strange new escort slipping them past everybody silently, none of the guards nor workers seeming to notice their presence. As Hana made to point this out, he raised his finger to his lips again, and she kept her mouth shut, her confusion rising with each step.

As he pushed open the door to the Kazekage's office, revealing it to be empty, Hana had almost reached her bursting point. As he released her arm, Hana glanced about the room as though perhaps she had missed the man, and in that time, her escort had walked over to the desk and settled down in the chair, clearing his throat and drawing her gaze. "Wait, what...?" She eloquently asked.

"Well, at least that guard cannot break his promise of not telling me your words." He said with a smirk, looking at Hana with mirth. "As I had already heard them in any case. I must say, you are a markedly difficult person to find." He flicked open a folder on his desk. "No noted place of residence within the city, no place of purchase for food, water nor other 'necessities'." He turned his gaze from the paper to stare at Hana's wide eyes. "You are much like a ghost, breezing into the city and leaving very little trace that you were here at all. Outside of the filed paperwork of course." He gestured at his desk with those words.

Hana rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Maa, I didn't exactly want to enter illegally and get kicked back to Konoha for infiltrating a hidden village." She admitted honestly, noting the look that flashed over the man, who was apparently the Kazekage's, face. "You'll hear it soon enough, I left the village. Without conflict I must add!" She quickly blurted when the man twitched his fingers. "Like I said, you'll hear, or rather see it as soon as the Bingo-Books get updated. I predict a B-rank classification, probably a bounty matching that, if only because I am still technically a trained ninja."

"So..." He began slowly. "You willingly admit to me that you are a missing-nin of our ally, pending addition to Konoha's bingo-books and subsequent bounty?" Hana ventured a nod, and the man sighed. "Why are you here?" He asked bluntly, steeping his fingers and looking directly into Hana's eyes. To her credit, she only wilted slightly under his firm gaze.

"Would you believe me if I said honestly I planned to already have left the village?" The answer seemed to surprise him. "Because it's true. But, when I was here, I got into asking around for some specialty items I wanted to get ahold of, perfectly safe I assure you, and I managed to find some vendors capable of procuring them. So now, until they get here, I got kinda stuck here." She quickly winced at her statement. "Not that I wouldn't like to stay in the village a while, I think the architecture is beautiful and the people are welcoming, I just don't want to overstay my welcome here."

The man smirked again. "Yes, I heard. So, you believe this building to look like a...giant pot, was it?" Hana tried, she really did, but hearing the man say that just brought an honest giggle to her lips, even as she tried desperately to cover it as she nodded. The man seemed to take it in stride, smirk still on his face. "I must admit, while I have never looked at our architecture like that, I can see the resemblance. Perhaps it could even be taken as an allusion towards that which we hold dear?"

Hana smiled as she thought of it that way. "That's a much...kinder way to see it. But...you wanted to see me, specifically Kazekage-sama." She deliberately deferred to him with his formal suffix, a point the man did not overlook in his assessment of the girl. "I do not believe you make a habit of meeting every new visitor to your city, ninja or not. If I may, why did you specifically seek me out?" She asked politely but firmly.

Steeping his hands, the Kage looked at her with intensity. "I would have you tell me what exactly occurred between you and Sabaku no Gaara on the day you arrived." He stated plainly, and Hana tried and failed to resist her urge to facepalm, earning a raised eyebrow from the man even as she sighed.

"I figured as much. Look, I'm going to be completely level with you here Kazekage-sama, Gaara was killing himself." The sincerity in her tone did nothing to help blunt her words, but before he could speak, she had already continued. "From what little I saw and spoke to him about, he hasn't had social interactions, nor proper training, nor did he get proper sleep. I wasn't able to ascertain exactly how long this had been going on, but if this continued, he would have dropped dead within a year, Jinchuriki or not." Her tone brokered no argument from the man, who simply sat in his chair and stared at the girl.

They stayed like that a few moments, before Hana rubbed her eyes with the fingers of one hand. "Look, if you want to know why I helped Gaara, it's because honestly, I don't want to see him die, for two reasons. I saw his seal, it's weak. If he died, Shukaku would be freed, and accord-" She stopped herself before she could give something important away, and the man picked up on her hesitancy. "According to what I saw, he would go on a rampage, only without a Jinchuriki binding him. Finding a way to seal him, especially with the incredibly limited population of Fuinjutsu users in Suna, would be a major undertaking, during which many lives would be lost." With a sigh, Hana then added a little more. "Besides, he looks a little like a Tanuki, and I have a soft spot for cute things." She said with a smile.

"I...see. Well, it appears my son was right about you." Hana blinked. Then again. Before pinching herself just to make sure she wasn't under a Genjutsu and being pranked by Kurami not releasing it automatically for her.

"Please tell me you aren't about to say you pulled wool over my eyes twice in a fucking half-hour?" The man kindly over-looked her crass statement, instead making a gesture and having one of his ANBU seemingly materialize, walking to the door and opening it, before stepping out a moment then returning their position and disappearing again. Being unable to sense his presence, even when trying her hardest, really un-nerved Hana, knowing she had been being observed the entire time she was in that office. "That's seriously unsettling..." She murmured, glancing about the door furtively. "I wonder how many are even in here." She said idly, and the Kage smirked.

"Enough." Was all he said, leading Hana to look at him with a neutral look, clearly trying to hold back a glare at his blasé answer. Fortunately for the girl's continued health, the Kage's sons and daughter entered the room, and Hana found herself looking at the same visage she had met on her first day within Suna, though she didn't recognise the other two. "May I introduce my children. From left to right, Temari, Kankuro, and you have already met Gaara."

As Hana looked between the three, she found three disturbingly different gazes appraising her. The female, Temari, seemed the most welcoming, glancing over her body with a small smile on her face. She had a large metal block attached to her back, obviously a weapon though Hana couldn't identify it. The tall boy to her side, Kankuro, had a painted face, with a large wrapped object tied to his back, a big tuft of fur or something on its top. He looked rather irritated to even be in the room at that moment, something Hana could relate to.

Finally, Hana set her gaze on the youngest of the trio. He looked...better was too strong a word. He still had his Tanuki-like eyes, his pale skin and marked forehead. But there were still big changes. For one, he didn't hold himself so cockily. His hands were by his sides rather than condescending folded before him constantly, and he even had a tiny smile on his face. By the fact that the only person smiling other than him was the blonde girl, that lead Hana to attribute his learning to smile with her, leading her to look at the girl and give her own bright smile to the girl.

"Well, this is lovely. Gaara, it's a pleasure to see you. I got worried when I never saw you in the oasis, nor in the village." The unspoken question apparently slipped right by Gaara, who stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist, stunning the girl for a moment before she smiled and wrapped her own down around his neck. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but why the hug Gaara?"

The muffled answer she got sounded something like, "Temari-nee told me it was how people show affection or thankfulness." and Hana looked at the Kunoichi only to see her looking between the pair with a beaming smile on her face, a beautiful contrast to the scowling visage of her brother. Deciding to be cheeky, she deliberately caught Kankuro's eyes.

"You know, if you want a hug, you could just ask." The loud "HA!" that came from Temari was loud enough it echoed slightly, and the Kunoichi blushed lightly before shrugging. Meanwhile, the boy seemed torn between attacking her, leaving in a huff, or just trying to stay still. In the end, his senses won out and he remained stationary, sneering at her. "I would make a daddy problem joke, but..." She surreptitiously cast her eyes to the side where the Kage was seated with a smirk on his lips.

Scratching that, she looked closer, and noticed with lightly widening eyes that he wasn't smirking, he was truly smiling but trying to hide it behind a facade. With that knowledge, Hana felt her heart lighten, as she knew that despite her initial assessment, the man did truly care for his children. It confused her why he would let Gaara enter such a horrendous state, but as she had heard no mention of a mother, she assumed it was probably due to separation from his son. It was even an issue with her old village's Kage, his own son leaving the village to work for the Fire Daimyo instead of stay near his father.

Ruffling Gaara's hair, which Hana noted wasn't feeling sandy today, she turned to look at the Kage questioningly. "I can assure you, I merely wished to measure you against my son's word." The man told Hana. "For the first time since..." The man thought for a moment. "...well ever, actually, he had found a person he liked. When he came back to our home, he was far more...at peace. Not once did he allow his bloodlust to leak out, nor did he lash out when he asked him what had occurred." The man tiredly rubbed his eyes with the fingers of one hand, sighing. "Ever since that day, Gaara has been-"

"-Living for only himself, right?" Hana chimed in, making the man wince. "Yeah. I...ahh fuck it." Hana's sudden vulgarity surprised the man. "Look, I hate keeping secrets. I had to keep my own plans a secret from Konoha for ages, and I don't really want to keep any secrets here. Besides, Konoha would probably add it to my Bingo Book entry." Hana sighed. "I'm...kinda, sort of...the 9-tails Jinchuriki." She admitted.

To his credit, the man's jaw didn't drop very far, though it definitely opened. "So, you contain the Demon F-

"Don't fucking call her that name." The malice that dripped from that uttered statement made several of the ANBU within the office move to protect their Kage, though Hana did not let up her sudden glare. "I don't care what people say about me, for all I care they can call me the demon whore, but call her that, and I will...-" Hana trailed off, her face slipping into a more neutral look, and she moved her lips as if talking but no sound came. "I'm...ugh, sorry about that. It's just, nobody ever asked her what happened. From the moment she was caught within her seal to when I finally found her was at least two and a half decades. I don't know when Mito-san sealed her, but at least a decade and a half passed."

Hana glared at the floor. "Then came my fucking mother." She spat the words like poison. "She made Kurami spent a fucking decade impaled and hanging on a stone slap." She muttered quietly. "Just...I still can't wrap my head around why, outside of stupid and irrational fear. Kurami had done one bad thing, ONE!" She yelled, her emotions getting the better of her. "When she was forced to fight Hashirama by Madara, she was sealed away and kept in isolation for so long. Then, her jailor was changed, and my mother was far fucking worse, stabbing her body through in so many places and leaving her to hang like a criminal, for a crime she didn't even commit willingly."

Hana found her arm being tugged, and found Gaara looking at her with...worry. She tousled his hair. "Don't worry bud, she's dead now." She stated plainly, not noticing the other occupants of the room tensing at how casually she dismissed her mother's death. "She can't hurt you or Shu-chan." The raucous laughter in her head made Hana smile, even as Gaara frowned.

"Shukaku doesn't like that name...He doesn't like that name one bit." He said, and Hana smirked.

"Aww, but he's so cute, a little Tanuki." Hana then remembered they had an audience and at least looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry about that. I don't know exactly how much Gaara has explained..."

The Kazekaze flipped a paper around and pushed it towards Hana, who quickly scanned it. "This is a synopsis of what Gaara told us." The man stated clearly. "I would hope you can fill in any gaps or important information he may have missed."

"Right, well, first of all, in answer to your first question on here, no, I can't do anything to his seal. To consider that, you'd need someone on a master level. Not Jiraiya-sannin's level, not for Shukaku, but you would still need a master. I may profess aptitude for Fuinjutsu, but messing with a Jinchuriki seal is far beyond my skill level. I only modified my own seal because I felt confident in doing so. To try such a thing on another person just puts me ill at ease." Hana admitted with a shrug. "But Gaara got pretty much all of the important bits down."

Hana then rubbed her chin. "Though I'm a bit surprised he made no mention of my heritage." She turned her gaze to Gaara, who just shrugged. "What, did you forget what I said?" The boy just nodded unabashed. "Right. I don't actually think Konoha would willingly tell you that, and I would prefer to keep it a secret if possible. it's not a world-ending thing to get out, but a lot of angry ninja would likely try to hunt me down if they knew who my parents were."

The Kage merely nodded. "I understand. Sometimes children inherit the mistakes or actions of their parents. I have seen more than once as a child was targetted for the actions of their forefathers, and do not hold it against you. I would, however, like to know one thing." Hana looked at the man, prompting him to continue. "For your actions potentially saving my son, I thank you, but know not of how to repay you, as you do not make visible purchases. If I could have a way to repay you and settle this debt, I would be thankful."

"Wait, seriously?" Hana asked bluntly, and the man nodded, making her smile. "Well...I have always wanted to learn how to puppeteer." the man's eyes flicked behind her, and she followed his gaze to a suddenly uncomfortable Kankuro. She let her eyes drift over him before looking at the wrapped object on his back. "Wait, are you saying he's a puppeteer?" She asked, and the boy got even more uncomfortable.

"Show her, Kankuro." The boy's father had a tone which brokered no argument, and the boy reluctantly removed the object from his back, unwrapping it and revealing a six-limbed puppet with a messy mop of brown hair. he then shifted his fingers and Hana caught the telltale hint of Chakra Threads weaving around the puppet. As she observed, the puppet stood up at attention, and Kankuro made it walk around a bit and brandish a couple of weapons, clearly both happy he could show off his puppet, which was clearly a prized possession, but unhappy that he had to show it off to someone he probably regarded as not worth his time. Hana was just happy the Kazekage gave him the order, as watching him twitch his threads and make the puppet move in a facsimile of a human was interesting.

"Oh...I get it now." Hana muttered. "You don't use a single thread, it's multiple per finger, that's how it works, sneaky." She said, and Kankuro froze as he turned his head from his puppet to look at her. "What? It's not hard to figure something out with a live-action performance. I was running off the theory of controlling the entire puppet using one thread, expanding and contracting it as necessary to give rotation...eh, whatever." She then looked over the puppet. "And, as I thought, no Fuinjutsu, just pure practise and concentration, great. No cheat code for me I guess." She murmured the last words as she turned back to the Kazekage. "Thank you for that Kazekage-sama."

She then turned to Kankuro." And thank you for showing me Kankuro-san. If I may be so bold as to ask, could we perhaps set up a regular meeting for me to demonstrate my abilities, and for you to tutor me in what I have done correctly or incorrectly? Understand this needn't be a one-way street, as I am quite willing to impart my own knowledge, limited as it is."

The boy turned to his father, who merely nodded, a rather stern gaze levelled at his son to warn him not to mess up. With his father's approval, or perhaps order, the boy sighed and nodded. "Fine." He then glanced at Hana. "Well, we need some picked out time, and I don't know how often you want to meet." He said blandly.

"Ehh, maybe once a week on Sundays?" She ventured, and the boy merely shrugged. "Well, if you don't care, then sure. if I may-" She turned to the Kage. "can we use this building for our meetings?" She man simply nodded. "Great. Well, I guess Mid-day on Sundays, if that's alright with you." Another shrug. "So helpful. Kazekage-sama, is there anything else you wanted from me?"

The man shook his head, before looking thoughtful. "Well, I don't want this from you, I would give it to you." He reached within his desk and pulled out a small piece of plastic, which looked vaguely like a keycard, before placing it on his desk. Hana picked it up and glanced between it and the Kage. "That is evidence that you have Sunagakure's support. If a Suna ninja attempt to apprehend you and turn your bounty in, showing this card will dissuade them from that notion. I'm afraid I can do little about what Konoha may attempt, but know that within the village you are safe. Other than that, nothing comes to mind. I bid you good fortune in your endeavors, Nanashi Hana."

Hana nodded with a smile, pocketing the little piece of plastic. "Thank you Kazekage-sama." She bowed politely. "Though, I do not have the fortune to know your name. May I?" She inquired, and the man chuckled.

"Forgive me, I forget you did not even know me before today. I am Rasa." He politely mentioned, raising a hand to his chest and giving Hana a small bow even whilst seated. "A pleasure to formally make your acquaintance."

"Well, thank you for your time and company." She raised from her bow to smirk. "I shall leave you to enjoy your time within the Great Potted Office." The laughter of the man rung loudly within the room, and Hana joined him in a good laugh. "Until next time." With that, she quickly bid goodbye to the three sand siblings, telling Gaara that if he wanted to meet her, to head for the oasis and wait, Kurami would tell Hana that he was there, as she retained a kind of awareness regarding the area Hana had entered her seal in. She then exited the room.

"Great Potted Office, indeed." The Kage said with a soft chuckle.

* * *

**Seriously, the Kazekage building for Suna looks a lot like a giant pot.**

**And, surprisingly enough, even with the extra Smut, this chapter isn't my longest Fanfic chapter, that still goes to Falling Into Petals. That seriously surprised me.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Gasp! A chapter I started and promised willingly to not put smut into?! What is this devilry! Okay, yeah, whatever. This one's a normal one, no smut for today.**

**Also, how are you lovelies enjoying the daily chapters? I'm writing this beginning note on the 30th, so that tells you just how bloody far ahead I am of the chapters have been released. I hopefully can keep up this ruthless pace of over 60k words in a single week, but I dunno. *Yeah, I'm not joking, I've written more than 60,000 words this week alone, just for this story, it's fucking nuts, and I love it.**

**...And I just realized I haven't written a single proper fucking fight scene. I must remedy this fact!**

**_Chapter 14_**

* * *

"That's certainly impressive..."

Hana smirked smugly at the boy even as she de-activated her Sharingan, her Dojutsu locking those memories within her mind and letting her easily recall exactly what the boy had done to control his own puppet. After a few moments, she nodded to herself, drawing out threads from the tips of each of her fingers and looping them around her own far smaller puppet.

With a few motions, she managed to get it to move, but the problem lay in the fact that Kankuro's puppet was far larger, meaning the same motions didn't quite work. "Welp, that's gonna take some practice to get the hang of." She said, and the boy in front of her nodded. "Right, well, I promised to impart my own knowledge, but I kinda don't know what I can even teach you...Maybe some Taijutsu?" The boy looked distinctly uncomfortable at that suggestion, and Hana raised an eyebrow. "What? Please don't tell me you don't actually know any Taijutsu."

"I do, I just...don't feel comfortable fighting a girl younger than me." Hana's jaw dropped, and she stared at him for a moment before snickering. When the boy turned a glare on her, she erupted into full-blown belly laughter.

"Th-that's fuckin' priceless! F-uuuck." Hana got out between laughs. "Oh, that was good. Fuck me though Kankuro, seriously? You get uncomfortable when your opponent is a girl and smaller than you?" The boy continued glaring at her. "Yeesh, you really need to work on that mindset. Tell ya what, I'll get you used to sparring against someone younger, smaller and stronger than you, and you get me used to the niches of Puppeteering, sound good?" The boy thought for a moment before reluctantly nodded.

"Sure. So, where is this girl who is stronger than me? And when am I going to be sparring against her?" Hana did a double-take at that, before a wry grin appeared on her lips.

"Oh, don't worry, she's plenty strong. In fact, I'll keep it a secret, just to ramp up the tension, but she'll be here for next Sunday, don't worry." She said slyly.

* * *

"Hmm hmm hmm."

Hana hummed to herself quietly, back within her seal, and with her back to Kurami, who was busy gnawing on the leftover bones from some food. Just because the fox didn't need to eat didn't mean she didn't absolutely love the taste of food. She always said she preferred Hana's own cooking, but since the girl didn't cook very often, she settled for eating pretty much anything Hana brought to her. One of Hana's, and now Kurami's favourite foods were ribs, and Kurami always liked spending time just gnawing on the bones, it felt...right to the fox.

"Hmm hmmmm, hmm hmm hmm." Hana's humming matched an old song from her world, and she made her puppet strum along to it crudely. She hadn't yet gotten it down, but she was getting quite close, with only a few missed steps and minimal temper. It helped that she had a big cute comforter at her back. "Hey Kurami?" She called softly, feeling the fox shift from her bones to look at her. "Do you reckon I could make a seal that would move the puppet and make it play my guitar without having to control it?" She said with a smirk, making the fox roll her eyes.

Ever since Hana started puppeteering, she had expressed an interest in making her puppets do bizarre things, which then branched out into making anything she could think of doing unorthodox things. At one point she spoke about trying to make a scrubbing brush wash plates for her, with the plates being moved using seals to automatically stack them upon a drying rack. _**"Perhaps, beloved." **_She said simply, avoiding the question neatly and going back to her gnawing.

"I reckon I can. Just make it a sequential seal that makes the hands and fingers move at specific points. It'd be a bit like coding..." She trailed off. Kurami noted that sometimes Hana would mention things she'd never heard of, but the fox didn't care too much. If it was something Hana cared to discuss, she would have done so. "Yeah. That could work. Hmm, maybe I could...no, puppets can't form Chakra..." She lifted both her hands abruptly, making the puppet raise its hands off the guitar it was holding, before she detached the threads of one hand and grabbed it, swiftly tugging her other hand and pulling the puppet to her arm.

Slowly she ran her fingers along certain parts of the puppet, murmuring quietly to herself about theories of seals, all the talk of which went right over Kurami's head. Unlike Hana, she was not an Uzumaki descendant, so Fuinjutsu didn't click with her. But she was happy to just listen to Hana as she worked on her idea, occasionally having the girl bounce a random idea or two off the fox.

With a brush across her senses, she felt the container of her brother enter their oasis, and she shifted. **_"It appears Gaara wishes to meet with you." _**She informed Hana quietly, watching her run a few more lines with her outstretched fingers before placing the puppet down and twisting in place. The two brought their faces together for a quick kiss before Hana left the seal still sat down, appearing a little ways away from where Gaara stood.

"Heya Gaara, what's up?" She asked as the boy detected her and turned to face her. She smiled when she saw that, while he still looked like a Tanuki, the rings around his eyes and the pallid skin had receded, and he looked overall more healthy.

The boy shifted on his feet a little before walking towards Hana and sitting down in front of her. "I wish to see Shukaku again." He stated bluntly, prompting Hana to tilt her head.

"Okay? I mean, I don't know exactly why you would like to see him directly, but that's fine by me, grab on." She stuck an arm out, feeling Gaara wrap ing hand around it before she pulled them both into her seal. Immediately he took his hand from her arm and Hana went a few steps away to collapse back into Kurami's body with a wiggle. "Wonder why he wants to see him..." Hana mused, feeling Kurami nose her neck gently and smiling. "Don't forget how different our relationships are. I mean...I guess they might swing that way as well." She said with a giggle, turning her head to the side to give Kurami a kiss on the head. "That'd be a rather amusing coincidence. The containers for the furthest Bijuu, both being attracted to their charges, despite them sharing a gender."

She looked at Gaara, who looked pretty normal, and she tilted her head to the side. "Nah, I can't see it." She admitted after a few moments, and Kurami nodded her head in agreement.

_**"Hmm, yes, I see what you mean. Besides, Shukaku has spoken to me at length about his hatred for humans. You seem to have managed to slip his net, since he actually acknowledges you." **_She rubbed her nose against Hana's cheek. _**"Of course, if he didn't, we would be having words right now, but that's beside the point. The fact he did so without me needing to say anything tells me that he doesn't see you as he sees other humans."**_

"Huh, I wonder why? I mean, I haven't really done anything for or against him..." She trailed off. "Well, I don't really feel like doing more puppeteering...maybe I could work on my matchlock some more..." Kurami rolled her eyes as she saw Hana pull a scroll from behind herself and unseal another of her projects. It was a large piece of wood, bending downwards at one end and extending for a meter with a deep groove along the top of it. Hana apparently needed a long hollow piece of metal to sit within that groove, though Kurami didn't know exactly why, nor what could be so valuable about it that would make her spend so much ryo on it.

All she knew was that Hana seemed to spend a lot of her free time slowly carving the wood, trying to form it into a good 'stock'. The fox didn't know exactly where Hana learned about this, as she had never seen such a thing before. Granted, Hana spent a lot of time reading, which Kurami had far less interest in, but she found it unlikely that Hana would be able to refrain from showing Kurami a scroll containing information worth so much to her. With a sigh, she settled her nose back into her bones, her ears catching whispers of the conversation occurring between Gaara and her youngest sibling.

It confused Kurami as to just why the boy would want to see her brother directly, as she knew he could converse with his inhabitant just fine, but he seemed to harbour no ill will towards her beloved, so she could accept it.

* * *

"Wait, you're kidding."

The deadpan voice of Kankuro said to her, and she smirked. "Nope. You already said you know at least some Taijutsu but you still need training, otherwise you would have turned down my offer. I happen to be rather proficient at Taijutsu, even without the assistance of my eye, and more than a match for you." She then settled into her own mismatched form, one not native to either of her worlds, and let her face drop into a bland mask with her eyes locked onto Kankuro's. "Now, if you can land a hit on me within the next hour, I'll...I dunno, tell Gaara to keep his sand away from you?"

The swiftness that Kankuro adopted his own Taijutsu stance made Hana smile. "Okay, so, rules, which are boring and so I have very few. No permanent maiming, no using anything but unenhanced Taijutsu, and may the best lady win!" With that, she darted forwards, startling the unprepared boy and punishing him with a quick jab to his side, impacting the 7th, 8th and 9th ribs on his left side harshly with her fist before retreating from his pained retaliatory swing.

With her fists up, Hana observed the boy as he put his left hand on his ribs, his right still ready to attack her, and hse allowed him a few moments to check on himself. When he took his hand away and prepared himself again, Hana made to charge him, before feinting out of the way of his jab and knocking his forearm away with a backfist from her left hand, striking the centre of his chest with her other fist and smirking. She yanked her legs up and dropped beneath his hook swing, before smashing her feet back into the round and leaping up like a jack-in-the-box, giving him a solid chambered uppercut to his chin and knocking him right off his feet.

As she landed, she shook her slightly stinging hand and looked at the motionless boy with a little bit of worry. In her old world, a blow like that would at the very least give her opponent a concussion, at worst it would have killed him. Fortunately enough in her new world, people are absurdly durable, tanking blows that should honestly have killed them a thousand times over. The laws of physics were probably crying every time someone landed from a hundred-foot drop and survived just fine. As she stepped towards him, she gave him a nudge, feeling him shift and give a groan. "Probably shouldn't insult your sensei next time, huh?"

When later asked, Hana would say that the noise he made was totally worth having to train an idiot with misopedia.

* * *

**Yeah. I enjoy writing Taijutsu, it's weird. I mean, Hana knows a few Ninjutsu, and I'll be damned if I don't make her learn to use a Puppet with one hand, but her main focuses are going to be Taijutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Bukijutsu and a bit of Gunfujutsu (The Art of the Gun).**

**And no, Hana is not going to pull a Riddikulus and start making fucking SA80's and M72 LAWs. She can make black powder, and she remembers enough, especially with the help of her Sharingan, to make a Matchlock Musket with a Serpentine lock. She's only going to have one, and probably won't end up using it very often, since she can only fire it once before it becomes next to useless in a battle between ninja.**

**In honesty, she's mostly doing it because she's curious, and she couldn't do it in Konoha. Why? Because imagine it. Hiruzen has his damn Crystal Ball, and Hana knew she was being observed closely after the Uchiha massacre, so she wasn't about to make a weapon as powerful as a Matchlock Musket, because that would put it firmly in the hands of Konoha, who would probably reverse-engineer it or demand she teach them to make it. Hiruzen is a little partial to her because of his promise to Minato, but he wouldn't be able to overlook his village having such a powerful advantage.**

**Now that she's un-tethered, she's free to experiment at will. Next chapter is going to probably be when her Sulfur and Saltpeter arrive and she does some preliminary tests, she'll get into another Taijutsu fight, and Gaara will declare his eternal love for her...Nah.**

**But, srs talk, GaaraxShukaku...Bleh. I can kind of see it, and kind of not. It's strange.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hmm, should I write another Taijutsu fight? Maybe have Hana encounter some Konoha nin with Bingo-Books that she is marked within and have them attempt to attack her...That sounds like fun. She's definitely going to get into a fight with a few nameless nin, a few named, and that'll be fun.**

**One thing I'm not sure about is what exactly I want to do involving Orochimaru. I have an idea, but it's a bit weak right now. By the way, do you guys think Foxes would be a good summon-animal for Hana? I mean, she already has Kurami, but I think that when, not if, she reverse-summons herself to her most appropriate Summons Clan, the Foxes would snatch her straight up.**

**If not, what Summons would you give her? If not Foxes, I'd go for Wolves or Spiders to be honest.**

**Oh right, Hana's Sharingan. It may not...quite follow what Canon should, but screw it, it's close enough.**

**And the thing at the start, I know this isn't how that kind of thing would work, but whatever, I wanted to address Hana's 'displacement' from her own world, since she hasn't had any kind of real thought about it during this story.**

_**Chapter 15**_

* * *

Hana had her first, and most severe, disassociation episode when she was two years old.

It came suddenly. One day, she was fine, the next, her mind was desperately grappling with itself in regards to reality, and she was all but locked within her own head while she tried to sort herself out. To say her 'parents' freaked out was an understatement. It was so sudden. Hana went from normal and happy one evening, only to wake up the next morning not moving, her eyes empty as she merely sat on her bed.

They know noticed when Hana had not come out of her room for breakfast. Mikoto had gone up to see if she was ill or had missed her alarm for the morning, politely knocking on the door and hearing no answer. According to the woman after her episode, Hana had been on her bed, her knees to her chest, chin on her knees with her eyes half-open but glazed.

Nothing Mikoto did roused her from her state, and she had been moments away from dragging her to the hospital before Hana moved, a little at first, but Mikoto didn't miss that little motion. A few minutes later, Hana had regained awareness, blinking up at Mikoto with a sleepy smile. Inwardly, she was screaming.

Hana was perfectly aware of just what had happened to her, and it scared her. Her mind knew that she was not meant to be in this world. And, against her will, she had disassociated herself from her body, as her mind believed that it was not truly her body, that she was probably in a coma, and it began trying to reject reality. Consciously, Hana knew for a fact that she was either awake and alive in a new world, or this was the most intricate dream she had ever experienced, and she merely rode out her mind as it panicked unconsciously.

She appreciated the worry Mikoto lavished on her, but she knew that the hospital would just diagnose her with a disassociative disorder, if they even had enough medical knowledge to do that. When she failed to convince her mother that she really didn't need it, off they went, and to Hana's surprise, the medical diagnosis Jutsu they used picked up on her disassociation, though it couldn't identify the cause. They could detect the chemical imbalance within her head, and they could prescribe something to make the episodes a lot less intense than being sat for an hour with no awareness of the world, but they were left scratching their heads as to just why Hana was disassociating with reality.

Thus, they left the hospital with a bottle of pills and a warning that if Hana should relapse in a significant way, to bring her in immediately so they could try and diagnose her at an earlier point, preferably in the duration of an episode, to try and detect what the causation was. She didn't disassociate nearly as hard the next morning, with her first episode being by far the strongest, but she was still left practically catatonic on her bed for a full minute before she could snap out of it.

It helped that she knew exactly what she was dealing with and could make sure that her room was full of associative things from her new life, like little things Sasuke gave her as presents, or things she'd found on her own, as well as the few small trinkets Mikoto would bring back when she went out to markets. They all served as visible anchors for her mind, things to tell herself that she existed. After a while, her disassociation had weakened to the point where she would only freeze up for a second or two

When the Uchiha massacre occurred, her disassociation came back in a minor way, forcing her to go to the hospital for her old prescription and taking those irksome pills. It was irritating to know that her own brain was fighting against her, and she didn't like it.

Oddly enough, ever since she entered her seal and began spending time with Kurami, her disassociation had flared up viciously, before vanishing entirely. The one time she had an episode after meeting Kurami for the first time, she had looked at the clock after re-associating herself with her body to find it was approaching mid-day. To say she freaked out was an understatement, and she was genuinely afraid she would end up sat in a catatonic state for days on end. But the next night, she woke up, and nothing. Not even a single moment of disassociation.

Every morning, Hana experienced at least a moment where her body refused to believe that she was actually where her eyes said she was. But feeling Kurami's mental presence in her head, it acted like a permanent anchor for the girl, telling her 'You are here, you are loved'. And Hana couldn't thank Kurami enough for fixing something that had been a past of her life for so long.

For the fox, she just enjoyed the cuddles she got.

* * *

"...Hooray."

Hana's rather tired voice said quietly, and Kurami tilted her head to look at Hana, who was using her puppet with one hand again, trying to making it wander about in a pretty close representation to a human walking about. It was still far rather clunky, and quite clearly not human. Looking at the puppet would normally have made that obvious, but Hana had placed a Henge over the wooden puppet, making it look like a tiny ten-inch tall person walking about. But each motion was very rough, and just...not quite right, even by Kurami's eyes.

With a sigh, Hana dropped her technique, making the puppet collapse bonelessly. She'd been practising for a few weeks, and while she acknowledged that she had to build the muscle memory to twitch and pull her threads just right, it was still a little annoying trying to learn that. She could make the puppet move freely if she used all ten of her fingers, but then she'd be absolutely defenceless. Granted, just using one hand in a fight wasn't very good, but the idea was that she would unseal her puppet in a surprise attack, then press with herself and her new puppet, which would hopefully overwhelm her opponent.

If not, she could do as she just did and release the technique, freeing her other hand up to continue the fight, and perhaps re-acquiring her puppet to continue the fight. The only problem was she had to actually become proficient enough that she could use the puppet to fight with only one hand. It was like trying to re-learn Taijutsu, except through a tube.

...Bad analogy, but Hana felt like she could forgive herself that, as she looked at the limp puppet with a glare before sighing and checking the sun. For some reason, the time within her seal matched the time outside, which was handy. It mean she didn't have to leave to check the time. Noting the position of the sun, Hana estimated that it was as good a time as any to go check with her suppliers for her chemicals.

With a quick kiss and caress for Kurami, Hana left her seal, appearing in her oasis with a smile. It wasn't actually her oasis, apparently it was owned by the Kazekage, thus why Gaara brought her there. When she told Kankuro that it was where she was staying, he just gave her a blank look before telling her he would inform his father, just because. After that, Hana was told that the Kazekage approved of it, and Hana could remain there. It helped him since it was an area he could send someone to watch if he ever needed to contact her in an emergency, and it helped her because it was somewhere she had already begun to associate with a safe place.

Something about the area just felt so...calming. And Hana wasn't sure why...

* * *

Pushing open the door to the shop, Hana glanced about for a moment before locking eyes with the Shopkeeper, who was in the process of restocking shelves.

Deciding to be polite, Hana hung back, going over a few shelves and looking for items. She wasn't expecting to find anything, just looking across objects and passing the time as she waited for the man to finish his current basket and take note of her. A few minutes passed, in which she perused the shelves, before the man stood up from his position and lifted the empty basket, heading for his till and giving her a surprised look before continuing to the backroom.

A rustling sound came from the room as the man fiddled with something, and he came out hefting a large sack. Glancing over it and taking a whiff, Hana ignored the urge to be revulsed and instead nodded. "Hmm, good, this'll do fine." She said, tugging a scroll from behind herself and unsealing some money, quickly counting some out and putting the rest back, before placing it beside the till and sticking a seal to the bag of Saltpeter. "If I need more, can I come to you?" The man nodded.

"Sure, though I don't know why you'd want so much of this stuff..." He trailed off, and Hana smirked at his attempt.

Patting the scroll, she turned away. "Oh, you know, just a few little projects. Well, have a nice day." She said vaguely, leaving before the man could try to wheedle any information out of her. While she was curious as to whether her project would actually work, considering how different her world is, she couldn't just claim that it definitely would work. Perhaps the compound would simply fizzle, with the oxidizing Saltpeter not catching the charcoal and sulfur. Or maybe it would be far more violent, exploding and blowing her hands up.

Hana amended the idea she had for her first experiment in her head when she thought of that. She might receive some strong healing from Kurami, but she doubted that the fox could fix her if she blew her own hands up. She'd had a few burns and bloodied hands from messing up her seals a few times, but never anything serious. Evidently, from the noise she made when Hana thought as much, Kurami was listening in, and definitely didn't like what she was hearing, though she reassured her, and told the fox that she'd even do it within the seal so she could make absolutely sure Hana was being cautious.

As she rounded a corner, Hana saw a wagon passing by, and idly wondered just where the trader she'd asked for-Oh there he was.

Looking across the market, she saw the red black-striped bandana which marked him out from the others, and locked onto it, pushing her way politely and firmly through the crowd to reach her target. it was quite amusing to see a few people look at a particular bag on his wagon, only to be confused by it. Clearly, nobody here appreciated just how valuable sulfur was. As she got past the last throngs of people, she made eye contact with the man, then looked down at the bag. "Well, I see you got some."

"Yep! As you said, the Land of Hot Springs had plenty of it like you said. Don't see why you want it, even they didn't know anybody who cared so much as to specifically import it halfway across the Elemental Nations...-" Hana gave the man a look, and he rubbed his head. "-but it's not my place to ask." He stuck a hand out, and Hana gave the man a portion of her dwindling Ryo supply, before taking the bag and dropping it into another storage scroll. "Pleasure doing business with ya."

"Likewise. If I have need of more, I shall endeavour to seek you out." With a polite wave, she wandered away from the man, idly threshing her thumb across her assorted scrolls with a frown. She had hoped to stretch her money out a little more, but because of the added expenses from importing material from the land of Hot Springs, through Fire Country and River country, then into the desert, she found herself notably low on Ryo, which could make acquiring the more technical parts of her latest project rather difficult.

She wasn't a blacksmith, nor did she have a forge, so she had to rely on outsourcing the barrel, trigger, guard, ramrod, and most everything metal on her weapon, leaving her to make the wooden stock and not really much else. It was a little irksome, but Hana had no other way to do it. Fortunately, metalsmiths were rather common in her new world, and finding one willing to make the specified parts with no questions asked was, while a little difficult, not as hard as she imagined. She had left extremely exacting instructions on just what each part needed to end up as, and while she was a little worried, the man had simply laughed and assured her that he would get it all done on his honour as a blacksmith, even going so hard as to offer her a full refund if it wasn't exactly to the written and sealed specifications.

Hey, he might have been honourable, but he wasn't an idiot. In a world of Shinobi, one doesn't make a promise like that without making sure those same specifications couldn't be changed. But it was still a nice gesture, one Hana appreciated. but the price was definitely not pleasant to have to handle. Along with the cost of the iron, there was the man-hours, the very technical specifications, the fine-touch needed for the serpentine lock and lock-plate, and all of that added up to a not inconsiderable sum. She could afford it, but it would put her at rock bottom for Ryo.

Looking towards the Kazekage tower as she walked, she hummed. While she didn't really want to be a ninja for a village, she could definitely free-lance. Since Suna had nowhere near as fierce demands for teamwork as the Leaf, she could probably get a C-rank, or if she was really lucky a B-rank mission, and use that to fund her projects. With a firm nod to herself, she set her stride and made her way to the tower, strolling right up to the receptionist and flashing a smile. "I'm Nanashi Hana, I'd like to meet with the Kazekage."

Clearly they'd been told at least something about her, as the woman didn't immediately look upon her in suspicion for walking in and randomly asking to see their leader. She did get a cursory glance at her Kunai and Senbon, then her forehead, before the woman sighed, taking a paper from a folder and glancing at it. "Kazekaze-sama will haver a time-gap of ten minutes within a half-hour, is this suitable for you?" She asked, and Hana nodded. "Then I shall inform him of your desire to meet with him, and he shall decide whether to approve it or not." Hana nodded again, bouncing over to a comfy-looking chair and waiting patiently, feeling the woman glance at her a few times before stopping.

Hana passed the time by pulling her guitar out and strumming along to a few random songs in her head. It amused Hana how because of her Sharingan's eidetic memory, any time she glanced over sheet music for a song, she would instantly memorize it. Since Hana had taken the liberty of writing down as many song chords as she could remember, then essentially copy-pasting them to her new memory, she could recall perfectly the sheets of music she had read.

But, because it wasn't a retroactive ability, which sucked, it meant she couldn't perfectly recall her old life, as the Sharingan had to be active in order for its photographic properties to come into play, and Hana obviously didn't have a Sharingan in her old world. It hurt Hana's head a little to think about the mechanics behind having essentially two storages for memory, but she chalked it up to bullshit Dojutsu powers. She couldn't recall exactly the notes for some songs, but with what she could remember, she pieced the songs together by ear and memory, managing to make quite a library of songs, even if a few always sounded like a few notes just weren't quite right.

Hana had not gotten a chance to copy a Jutsu using her Dojutsu, and while it was a bit of a shame, the girl honestly didn't care very much for it. She liked Ninjutsu, rightfully so, as being able to spit fire and summon lightning was awesome, but...Hana honestly didn't find herself drawn to it. Instead, she preferred Taijutsu, relying on her body to do the fighting for her, her Dojutsu for its sheer time-perception capabilities, and some light Genjutsu. The only Ninjutsu she made regular use of was the Henge and the Hiraishin, for obvious reasons.

She had wanted to learn Bukijutsu, but never really got time to do so, with the Uchiha being so heavily focused on training her in Taijutsu and Shurikenjutsu. After the massacre, she found herself too immersed in Fuinjutsu and Space-Time Jutsu to make a gap for training in a new fighting style. And now that she was in Suna, she had done the same with her Puppeteering and trying to make her Matchlock. Idly, she wondered just what kind of weapon she would even want to use, going through and immediately closing off certain ones like Sai and Tonfa just on principle, and sighing when she just couldn't think. There were so many!

Breaking her from her thoughts, Hana saw the receptionist stand up and walk over to her, giving the woman her attention with a cheery smile. "Is he free yet?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama is now free and has allowed your unscheduled visit. If you would follow me, please." The receptionist spared Hana a moment to reseal her guitar and stand up, dusting herself off quickly and meeting her gaze, before she strode off towards the Kazekage's office, with Hana trailing her steps idly, already knowing the way to the man's office from her last visit. Within a minute or two, they were stood outside the door, and she waited a few moments. Hana was about to question her when a Suna shinobi left the room, and the woman slipped by him and entered the office.

Hana watched the man march down the corridor a moment before she heard a throat clear, snapping her attention back to the reason she was there with a sheepish smile. "Sorry Kazekage-sama, got a little distracted there." She admitted, and the man waved her off, speaking quietly with his receptionist for a moment before bidding her off and turning his gaze onto Hana.

"Hana-san, it's good to see you well. My son speaks highly of your unique Taijutsu, even if much of his words are far from pleasant. I must say, suppressing my amusement when we converse has become rather difficult of late, in light of his words." He jested softly, leading Hana to relax and laugh. "Now, while your company is pleasant, I trust you have a reason for requesting a meeting. However, I appreciate the break from paperwork none-the-less." He said with a wave at his desk.

Hana winced as she looked at the highly-stacked papers. "Yeesh, I don't envy you Kazekage-sama." The man raised an eyebrow, but Hana was still observing the paperwork. He noted that she had quite logically not activated her Sharingan, or he would have reason to believe she was trying to spy. As it was, she was clearly rather curious, and he saw nothing prudent within the information that a spy would care for, so allowed her that little peculiarity. "Oh, right. I kinda wanted to ask as to whether I could maybe...get a chance to do some missions for Suna? As a freelancer that is, I don't want to tie myself down like that. I kinda...need some Ryo."

She didn't miss the momentarily hopeful look that crossed his face and died when she mentioned she was remaining independent, though he still had a pleasant look on his face. "I'm sorry Hana-san, but with many of our missions being sent to Konoha by the Wind Daimyo, you would likely not find much work. You are welcome to do so, but you will likely not encounter anything worth your time and effort. You would likely find more success plying your skills directly to citizens."

Hana tilted her head to the side. "But why?" When the Kage made a noise, Hana frowned. "I don't get why your Daimyo would willingly weaken his own hidden village like that, it seems stup-...uh, it seems strange." Hana was helpfully warned against directly insulting a decision of their Daimyo by the warning look Rasa gave her.

"I will admit, our Daimyo has been making some peculiar decisions as of late, such as cutting our direct funding and sending missions to other countries, forcing me to use my own Kekkei Genkai to keep our economy afloat." Rasa's eyes widened as he realised just how loose-lipped he just was, but as he looked at Hana, he could see the girl had no indication she really cared too much that he single-handedly was keeping his village alive. Just like how she didn't particularly care about what was on the documents she was idly reading, or that she had left her own village and been branded a...Missing-Nin. "Oh, Hana-san?"

Hana stopped reading the paper she was on and looked up to the man's face, only to see the top of his head as he leaned down and dug through a drawer, pulling out a little green-backed book and plopping it on his desk. Looking from the book to the man and seeing him nod, she picked it up and leafed through a few pages, recognizing it as a Bingo-Book. From the colour, presumably a leaf one. "You weren't wrong, but not quite right either." His words rung in her ears, and she stopped leafing through the B-rank section of Missing-Nin with a frown, flicking all the papers using a thumb with a frown.

"Hmm...Wait a minute." She stuck her thumb near the end of the book, past the S-Rank nin, and looked at the special designation ninja. There weren't many, only a few pages, and there she sat. She recognized the photo, thumbing it gently. She could see Sasuke's shoulder and arm beside her, and she was grinning at the camera, though she could see, and subsequently remember, just how fake that smile felt. She wasn't happy, nor excited, to be a Shinobi, but she wasn't ready to leave the village. If she had managed it just a few short months before, she would have still been a trainee and Konoha would be unable to label her a missing-nin. A technicality, but a strong one.

Reading underneath it, Hana's eyes widened, glancing up to see the Kazekage smirking at her, and she huffed. "Honestly, I thought they'd just say screw secrecy and tell everyone in Konoha what I was." She said, glancing down at the book and frowning. Beneath all her general information was a section for abilities and whatnot, warning people of her specialities. One of them was blandly marked as 'Long-Range Shunshin', leading her to believe that Hiruzen and Kakashi had no clue just what she pulled off. There were notes about her aptitude for Taijutsu, but, most importantly, they didn't mention the fact she was a Jinchuriki anywhere. Not once. She was only rated as a C-Rank ninja for christ sake! As in, one weak enough for a 3-man squad of Chunin to reliably take down! That was one step above a Genin/Academy Student!

When she realized that, she looked up at Rasa with a frown. "Please don't tell me this is accurate." The man's solemn nod all but confirmed it, making Hana almost tear her hair out in exasperation. When in Suna, Kurami held her chakra at a semi-released state, appearing as a high-chunin level Shinobi. If they sent a regular team of Chunin against her, with her passive Jinchuriki abilities, they'd probably be slaughtered. And Konoha weren't even putting that little snippet into the Books. The closest thing they had was 'Abnormal regeneration rate'.

"It appears they believe you are simply a wayward child, in need of being brought home." He raised his hands when Hana growled at the book. "I have no intention of trying to send you back Hana-san. While I do not believe it right to abandon your village, you have been nothing but polite, kind and honest, both to me and to the inhabitants of my village." His words placated the girl, and she gave him an apologetic look at forcing him into such an awkward position. "I don't confess to know you well, but I know you must have a good reason to leave your village and refuse to tie yourself to another. I would hope that one day you indulge me in your reason, but for now, know you are safe to remain within Suna as long as you would like. It is the least I can do after you saved my youngest son and began tutoring my eldest in Taijutsu. You need only spend time with my daughter to achieve the full combination." He joked lightly, before his face turned serious.

_"I shall make sure every Konoha-nin who enters my village knows that this is neutral ground regarding you. If they attempt to take you from within our walls, know they will be forfeiting the protection I afford them. I suppose a good way to put it would be that, as far as Suna is concerned, you would have Carte Blanche regarding your kidnappers. I trust you will not abuse this."_

Hana's jaw had already firmly dropped. A Kage, basically the over-ruling leader of the entire village outside of the Daimyo, was offering her protection against Konoha. Of course, they might still attempt to...'retrieve her', but he'd foreseen that, giving her a blank-cheque in regards to them if they tried to take her away when within his village. Of course, she could still be attacked outside the village, but she would have been able to defend herself anyway. When within the village, the laws are a bit more...difficult to work around, and trying to defend herself might get taken as her attacking the ninja of an ally to Suna, getting her attacked by Suna's own forces. With that proclamation, Hana was far safer within the village, and Hana was ever so glad she decided to give that Tanuki-looking boy the time of day.

Kurami's mental poke reminded her of just who she had to thank for that, and Hana promised Kurami plenty of affection for that.

* * *

**Hot damn, I had to emphasize just what Rasa said with italics. That's fucking huge. Within Suna, for her saving his youngest son's life, and training (*Read: beating down*) his eldest son in Taijutsu, he gave Hana Carte Blanche to deal with anybody who tried to take her back to Konoha.**

**Hey Illustrious...?**

_**...Fine.**_

**HOORAY! MORE SMUT TO WRITE! ALL HAIL! Hmm...maybe a mixed chapter again...yeah, that sounds good. I swear, so fucking tempted to make Hana have Kurami's adorable babies! Seriously. Just imagine it, the pair living within the seal with their adorable Fox babies, because Kurami's genetics would be way fucking stronger than Hana's. And the foxes are able to come out of the seal, then the power of maternal instincts lets Kurami out of the seal without killing Hana because magical mother powers, and they all live in a cave and have awesome and adorable times because hell yeah!**

**...Yeah, I'm not gonna do that. Maybe for the end of the story. But I really want to put a fist through Akatsuki's collective heads...Barring Konan because she's a sweetheart...I like Origami alright, I think making such beautiful creations from paper is incredible, even if I don't have the skill nor patience for the intricate folding. I remember one time during my stint at 6th Form where a bunch of foreign exchange students from Japan were there, and they came into the 6th form students area and walked a few people (Including me, SQUEE) into folding an Origami crane. I swear, that little crane-lesson...I wanted to hug the sweetheart who showed me how to do it so badly, but refrained from doing so because it'd be embarrassing.**

**... I totally didn't embarrass her in front of everyone by hugging her anyway, not me. No siree! I totally didn't give her a big hug and gave zero fucks. Hush.**

**Also, writing this on Halloween, so HAPPY REALLY DAMN LATE HALLOWEEN!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Fucking hell, Cycle Hit on Beat Saber is fucking impossible. Anyone who can do it is a fucking psychopath I swear, my arms are so dead trying to make it through Expert, then someone pointed out that there's an Expert+ and my heart fucking stopped.**

_**At least you aren't writing smut...**_

**Aha! But that's the glory of VR, I can write Smut...within Virtual Reality! Not that I did, because EFFORT, but the point is, at some point, one of you have probably read a Fanfiction that somebody wrote WITHIN VR! Also, deliberately keeping Hana's exact age vague, because...yeah.**

_**Chapter 16**_

* * *

After Rasa dropped that little bombshell, Hana decided, after enthusiastically accepting and bidding him farewell of course, that she wanted to continue her previous train of thought. Or rather, find somewhere where she could actually finish said thoughts. When she simply thought about exactly what kind of weapon she wanted to specialize in, nothing leapt out to her.

She'd considered just using a katana, but she wanted something more unique. A Tanto was too short for her liking, and a very common Ninja weapon. A Nodachi was too unwieldly-seeming for her, though she appreciated the reach. She went through the weapons she could recall glimpsing at the Blacksmith, cursing the fact she hadn't used her Sharingan to memorize the contents, but she couldn't think of anything that she really wanted to use.

As she left the building, Hana pulled out a map and quickly hunted down the nearest Blacksmith, smirking when she realized that it was the same one she had commissioned for her Matchlock parts. While the man said it would take him a month to get to and complete her order, thus leading it to in fact be the next day, that could have changed, so it wouldn't hurt to ask. And he would probably have some weapons lying about she could look at, even if she couldn't afford them right now.

If Hana was a better or just more influential person, she would probably have tried to figure out what was going on with the Daimyo and sending missions away from Suna. If she cared, maybe she would have noticed Suna being pushed into a corner. As it was, she was just annoyed she couldn't make some easy money.

* * *

"Ahh, Kunoichi-chan, welcome back!"

The cheerful blacksmith called from his place beside the bellows of his forge, working tirelessly to heat the inferno inside. "Glad to be back." Hana replied, eyeing the White-Hot flame within the forge. "Working hard I presume?" The man bellowed out a laugh.

"Rightly so little lady!" He called, and Hana bristled lightly at the name, but let it slide off harmlessly. In his eyes, she seriously was a 'little lady'. Where she was still rather short and not particularly endowed in any way shape or form, including arm size, the man working the forge was a behemoth of a man, dwarfing her easily, with arms as thick as telephone poles. His legs were not quite as well-formed, but still clearly strong from carrying heavy metals and standing for such long periods of time. "Just a moment to finish heating this flame and set some scrap Kunai to smelt, and I'll be right with you."

Hana waved him off. "There's no rush. If you don't mind, may I peruse your pre-made wares? I find myself in want of a weapon to call my own, and while I love my special Kunai, they are still rather...impersonal, whereas a true weapon should really identify me, you know?"

The man stared at her for a moment, before he actually teared up slightly. "Wise words Kunoichi-chan. A weapon should truly embody a person. Otherwise, it's no more than a mere tool, like your own aforementioned Kunai. They are good, and some, like the Yondaime Hokage, are known by their tools, but they aren't quite...there." He took a hand from the bellows to tap at his chest, vaguely in the place the heart was. "When you find the weapon that matches your heart, then you shall become truly feared."

The pair look at each other's eyes for a moment before they both chuckled. "Right, right. Well, on the topic of weapons, I made mention that I have special Kunai. I may not be in Suna all the time, but when I am, do you think you could craft these upon request?" She tugged one of her pronged Kunai from her pouch and held it flat against her hand.

The blacksmith gave the bellows a few more pumps before leaning over, giving the Kunai a quick and close glance, before leaning back to his bellows and continuing with a grunt. "Looks pretty simple to do. As a rough estimate, I'd say about an extra 70% cost from a standard Kunai, considering the extra material and the extra time it'd take to hammer that piece out." He said honestly, and Hana smiled at him for that. She'd spent a while going around to different Blacksmiths within Konoha with her odd order, hearing them all give her different quotes, then averaging them out and figuring out just what a reasonable price for a Kunai like hers was.

Turns out it was about 75% extra, because of the extra material and the difficult shaping, since it was pretty awkward trying to work on such an angle to sharpen the prong. "Awesome. I try to keep ahold of them, but y'know, stuff happens, they fly off into the distance sometimes, and you just can't find em." Of course, Hana would be losing her Kunai far, far less than most people, since she could just Hiraishin to them and grab them, but they could still get broken from use.

With a hum, she turned away from the blacksmith and stepped into his building, glancing about at the various racks of weaponry with a keen eye, observing each one closely before shaking her head. Each weapon just looked wrong. A few looked like they'd work, and she carefully lifted and twirled them about slowly, but they just weren't for her. Until she saw it.

It was pretty unassuming at first glance. The shaft was smooth and un-sculpted, nothing intricate about it, with black wood. There were plain iron bands around the base and equidistant points up the shaft, up to the guard, which was a pretty typical small and spherical protector, nothing more and nothing less. Stretching beyond that was the blade itself, a foot and a half of steel, with a cleanly-swept blade on one side, and a jagged back-edge. Hana delicately wrapped her hands around the shaft, feeling the heft of the weapon and smiling. It was just a little heavy for her, which made it perfect. She was still growing, after all, and having a weapon she would grow into, using it repeatedly and getting a handle on its usage, the little niches and things that made it unique, she knew this weapon was pretty good. If only...

"So, whaddaya think, Kunoichi-chan? I can clearly see you're smitten. Not my finest work, but certainly one of my betters."

She sighed, her eyes not leaving the weapon in her hands. "Masataro-san, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I really can't afford this, despite my wishes." She sighed as she ran a hand along the length of the beautiful black-shafted Naginata. "It truly is a beautiful weapon, but as it is, I don't have the Ryo to spare for it. Not with my current order." She admitted, looking from the weapon to the blacksmith. "You wouldn't happen to have another way I can pay for it? A job or something I could do?"

The man rubbed his chin. "Look kid, I like you. You know what you want, and you know what you have to do to get it. But a weapon like that isn't something a simple job would...ahh screw it, nobody ever damn well buys those Naginata anymore. Okay, so I got a job. Twenty Odachi for the Capital's guard. I've got eighteen of them forged already, which coincidentally is why your own order is taking so long to do, and you saw me heating the forge for the last two. If you think you're up for it, you can help me forge them, then take them all to the Capital."

Hana raised an eyebrow. Odachi weren't exactly easy to make, yet the man implied that he'd have crafted two new Odachi within the day, considering her own order was due tomorrow, and he didn't seem worried that he was running behind schedule. But Hana wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and simply nodded. "Hey, I think I can help you with the whole transporting thing as well. Can you show me to those Odachi's?" The blacksmith looked a little confused, but he beckoned her after him, pushing his way through the empty shop towards a back room.

Opening the door, Hana saw a pretty large box, and the bulky man hefted it open, revealing oiled and carefully-wrapped Odachi. With a nod, Hana took out a blank scroll from her pack and put it on a table. "I didn't exactly mention it, but I know some Fuinjutsu. You know what that is, right?" The man shook his head, leading Hana to sigh as she remembered she was in Suna, who had maybe one or two master-level Fuinjutsu users.

"Right, so to put it simply, Fuinjutsu is the art of sealing. Basically making barriers, or causing certain things, or activating them, stuff like that. One sub-division of Fuinjutsu is storage seals." The man's eyes lit up in realization. "Yeah, so I can store all this within this tiny bit of paper and take them all to the capital easily enough. Only thing is I'll have to write it out from scratch, my own seals, or at least the ones designed for this size of contents, are in use right now, and I don't want to cause a cascade failure by forcing something into a too-small seal."

The blacksmith hummed agreeingly. "And what would happen if you were to do such a thing?"

Hana got a rather odd look on her face. "Well...let me put it like this." She looked about and locked eyes with a weapon handle. Picking it up, Hana held it out. "So, imagine I put this handle into my specially-crafted seal. The seal is designed to perfectly fit this handle, with no wasted space." She shook it for emphasis. "But it has no room for anything else. To do more I'd need a bigger and more complicated seal. Now-" She put a hand on the discarded lid for the Odachi crate. "-Imagine I then tried to put this lid into the seal. It would be impossible to fit this lid within the space a handle would inhabit, so the seal fails. And when a seal fails, the contents are forced outwards violently."

Turning to pull out a scroll, Hana looked at it. "But with the seals currently not in use...my own storage seals are usually designed like a cube. There's enough space for small and stackable objects, but an Odachi is a much longer shape. If I tried to force a blade-length object into there, it'd reach beyond the edges of that cube-shape and..." The blacksmith seemed to get the picture.

"Right, you probably don't want all your seals exploding. Well, I guess you don't need to actually help me forge, so instead if you get this seal written and transport it to the Capital, I'll give you that Naginata." The two shook the others hand, and Hana beamed at him.

"You won't regret it!"

* * *

Clicking her fingers, Hana leaned back to let out a delightfully long yawn, almost falling off the stool she had appropriated from somewhere in the shop.

It took two hours to make the seal, and Hana put a little chakra through it, to test whether it would try to absorb the air. It was always safest to do that before putting it on something, in case it accidentally removed the object from existence. Evidently, Hana was a little bit off with one of the stripes, accidentally turning the entire array into an explosive tag. Which would detonate when it was infused with air. To say Hana wasn't happy when she got her hands rather nastily charred in the explosion was an understatement. Fortunately enough, because of her previous experiments, Kurami was used to fixing Hana up when her seals went awry, so she knew that within a day her hands would be a-okay.

Of course, not everybody knew that.

"Hana-chan, are you o-WHAT THE HELL?" Of course, a rather loud explosion from a faulty seal was destined to draw attention, and Masataro, the blacksmith, had evidently thought it a good idea to check up on her. Trying to wave away his worries, Hana winced when the skin on her palm split wide as she twitched her hand, and settled for a pained smile.

"Heya Masataro-san, kinda made an error, so that seal's gonna have to wait 'til tomorrow." He followed his rather disturbed gaze to her hands and grimaced as she caught a whiff of charred flesh. "Oh, this is nothing. You should have seen me when I messed up a Space-Time seal..." Hana shuddered at those memories, swiftly blocking them out and focusing on her current situation.

"Oh, we need to take you to the hospi-"

"No! No, don't worry Masataro-san, I heal quickly." When he looked like he still wanted to pick her up and carry her to the hospital, she just shrugged. "How about this. If by the next morning my hands aren't blemish-free, you can drag me to the hospital?"

"...Hana-chan, by that point those wounds would be infected." He muttered, looking at both her hands with a deep frown, before glancing up at her face and sighing. "You promise you'll be fine come tomorrow?" Hana gave an enthusiastic nod. "I'll hold you to that, and you can say goodbye to getting that Naginata if you lied to me."

Hana rolled her eyes. "Why would I lie about something like this? Trust me, if I didn't heal fast, I'd be worried that I was never going to be able to even hold a Kunai again, let alone use a Naginata." Placated, the blacksmith left the room, leaving Hana to clench her hands in anger at having to wait a full day before she could write the seal out. Then curse loudly as she felt her knuckles split.

After she got a handle on her pain, Hana hummed, trying to think of what she could do when her hands were...to put it bluntly, mangled. She couldn't try her puppeteering, she couldn't find an idle nin and practice some Taijutsu, she didn't want to just laze about doing absolutely nothing, but she couldn't think of something to do.

Idly she used her less mangled hand to hold a Kunai, twirling it around carefully, before she spotted the familiar black ink inscribed and sealed onto the handle of the Kunai, almost stabbing her tender hand with the prong. Of course, she could go visit Konoha! Under a Henge, which could be painful to form the hand-signs for, but considering she couldn't do anything strenuous with her hands, it was perfect.

She had a nice letter prepared for Sasuke, and while it didn't say anything of importance, surely he'd appreciate that while she had left the village, she still valued him enough to try and keep in contact. Then again, with how he took Itachi leaving, her disappearing on him like that might make him resent her, tearing up the letter as soon as she gave it to him.

Wouldn't that be a mind-fuck for him to find out? That the 'messenger girl' who gave him the letters his sister sent actually was his sister the whole time just under a Henge. But Hana honestly didn't trust that her letters would make it to his hands every time, so giving them to him directly was the easiest and most guaranteed way.

Besides, it had been more than a month since she'd seen him or spoken with him, and she wanted to see how he was doing.

* * *

Tugging her gloves on over her still-burnt hands with a wince, Hana looked over herself.

She had her typical outfit on since she felt most comfortable in it, and if her Henge got dispelled, well, at that point it wouldn't matter what she looked like. Not that it should. She was going to Konoha to have a look at Sasuke, give him a letter, maybe take a quick look around, then come straight back to Suna. No if's, and's or but's about it. She had a messenger-bag strapped to her back, with Sasuke's letter, her last smattering of Ryo, some food and water, a compass, map, and other necessary travelling supplies. She had wrapped some thin bandages around her fingers to try and alleviate any pain that may come from touching things, and her Henge had bandaged hands to make sure nobody questioned it if she did react to something with pain.

Making her own custom hand-seal, Hana stood stationary for a few seconds as she felt her mind stretch out towards the smattered beacons which signified her Hiraishin marks. if she had to describe it, she'd attribute it to looking at a blank video-game map, where all that consisted of it was a bunch of unmarked fast-travel locations. Because of how she had organized her marks, she knew exactly where each one was, mentally attaching each one to a location and picking a secluded forest to arrive at. Her seal would then, in essence, reverse-summon her, sort of like a summon animal, where the seal is the summoner.

She didn't know exactly how it worked, just that it did.

With a disorienting whirl, Hana arrived in Konohagakure, and promptly vomited her guts out against a tree. _'Note to self, distance increases Nausea.' _She thought to herself, shuddering as she felt Kurami drag in the last parts of her Chakra, making her feel a little sluggish and weak. Having her Chakra almost permanently suppressed, only letting it go within her seal, had gotten Hana used to the feeling of being a little incomplete, but having her Chakra pulled into a weak civilian state was definitely one of her least favourite experiences, just below that time Sasuke neglected to mention that the milk was bad and she almost swallowed a chunklet of disgustingness, and above the time she blew her finger off for the first time.

No, seriously, it was dangling on her hand by a thread of flesh, and Hana was torn between screaming in agony, and staring with morbid curiosity. Eventually her sanity kicked back in and she all but mashed her detached finger back into place, feeling Kurami panicking just as hard as she worked to re-attach the finger quickly. Fortunately enough, because of how quickly Kurami could re-attach the finger, as well as the fact that Kurami was still passively healing it, the finger only took a day for the nerves to re-grow.

With a sigh, Hana looked over herself, content in seeing that none of the vomit had touched her Henge. Spitting a few times and then taking rinsing her mouth out with water from a bottle in her bag, she slipped it back into the bag and looked around for a moment, getting re-oriented and sighing. The village, or at least the forest she was in, smelled so different compared to Suna. While Suna had a vaguely dusty and odd scent, Konoha smelled like damp earth and leaves, and Hana found herself unconsciously relaxing.

As she strolled through the dense foliage, Hana took the time to wonder just what kind of ruckus her 'escape' caused, if any at all. Sure, she was the Jinchuriki for the most powerful Bijuu, and thus quite damn important, but she was still quite young, and thus not a powerful or dangerous Shinobi. In their eyes at least. It was funny, Hana had been living a lie for so long the truth seemed less and less real. Kurami still kept up their little Chakra coil exercise, but the ruthless tamping down meant Hana couldn't really gauge exactly how strong she was now.

As Hana saw the tree-line break, and the familiar streets of Konoha greeted her, she fell into step easily enough amongst the crowd, walking towards the apartment she shared with her brother, an easy smile on her face and a bounce in her step, playing every part the ditzy messenger-girl. On the way, she saw glimpses of faces she vaguely recognised in passing, though, aside from an Akimichi she recognised quite well, nobody she actually knew by name.

Coming up to the apartment, Hana dipped out of the crowd, slipping up the winding steps and coming face-to-face with the door she'd spent more than a few years living within. Raising a hand, she rapped firmly on the door, hearing someone inside practically fall over if the sound was any indication. Hearing the opening of the familiar locks, Hana plastered the best delivery-girl smile she could manage on her face, watching the door swing open to reveal...Kakashi, of all people. "Uchiha Sasuke?" She chirped, determined not to act as if she recognised Kakashi in any way.

As she looked at the man, internally Hana was screaming. At any point the man before her could suddenly look with his Sharingan and poof, the jig is up. After a few moments, Kakashi shook his head, walking back into the apartment. "Sasuke, there's someone for you at your door." He called, rapping on her bedroom door. That was...odd. Apparently Sasuke was in her old room right at that moment. Maybe searching for clues as to her whereabouts still.

Watching her brother come out of her room, Hana could safely say with a smile that she was happy he didn't seem at least too down. He definitely had seen better days, but far worse days as well. Reaching around for her bag as he approached, she pulled out the letter and extended her hand. "Scroll for ya Sasuke-san!" Feeling his gaze searching her, Hana kept her smile firm on her face, making it falter slightly at his scrutiny, as one would expect from a confused delivery-girl. As he snatched the scroll and turned away from her, Hana didn't even have to fake the "Wow, prick." that slipped from her lips.

She was hoping Sasuke would at least say thank you, as he was taught to do, and how Hana had ingrained within him. Instead, he seemed to brush her off as if she was inconsequential. As she turned to leave, she heard him shout "WAIT!", and was very tempted to just run off and make him pay for being so rude. But, her feet won the argument, and she turned around to see him staring at her. "Who gave you this?" He blurted out, and Hana raised an eyebrow.

"...How the hell am I meant to know?" She said bluntly, glaring at him. "Do I look like the kinda gal so desperate for clients that I remember 'em all? Look, pal, I already don't like you, and I have way too many deliveries to be dealing with this right now." Sasuke at least looked a bit sheepish, and Hana eased up on him a little. "Listen, you wanna know so badly?" He nodded eagerly. "Then maybe learn to treat people with a little fuckin' respect, yeah?"

Sasuke dipped his head, and Hana had to resist her big-sister urge to hug him and tell him it was alright. "I'm sorry, I just...lost someone recently, and this letter came from either them or someone who knew them very well..." He trailed off.

"Well why didn't 'ya say so? Don't remember much to be honest, as I said, I get a lot of people sending me on messenger-runs, but she was pretty memorable. Kunoichi chick, 'bout yay high, wearing a pretty damn nice outfit. M'talking scarf, fishnet shirt, knee-highs, the works." Ahh, the ability to brag about your own outfit whilst pretending to be someone else, 'twas glorious. "Didn't see 'er face though, her scarf was pretty much covering it entirely."

"Do you remember where you were when she gave you the letter?" Sasuke asked eagerly, making Hana roll her eyes.

"Do you really reckon I'd forget where I met a chick like that? She was in one of the villages 'round Suna. Word on the street is...-" Hana leaned in conspiratorially. "-she saved the life of the Kage's son or somethin', so he got it in his head that he owed her something, and promised her neutrality in his village." Sasuke's eyes widened, as did an eavesdropping Kakashi. "And that's not all, she's 'parently spending a lot of time with 'is eldest as well. Nobody knows what though, they're always in the Kage's tower."

"And how do you know all this?" The voice of Kakashi piped in, and Hana gave hm an eye-smile.

"It's my fuckin' job to deliver shit, and she was definitely not the kinda person to take lightly. If I were any more suspicious I woulda told her to take that scroll and shove it. And, since she seemed to want me to do more regular deliveries, a lot of this she told me 'erself!" Kakashi's visible eye widened, and Hana had to resist the urge to smirk. "Ooooh explains that then..."

Hana trailed off deliberately, inciting Sasuke to ask the obvious question. "Explains what?" Hook, line and sinker. Three strikes and out, she had this in the bag. As long as Kakashi adamantly believed her words and brought it to the Hokage, she'd be golden.

"She sai-" Hana began, only to be cut off when somebody came barreling up the stairs.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Oh for the love of, of course with Hana's lucky streak she'd get perfectly interrupted by their third team-mate. Watching the pinkette barrel around the staircase and come to a stop beside her made Hana frown. "Oh, hello." Sakura said, looking her over once before dismissing her and looking back at Kakashi. "Aratamete wanted to know whether you'd be actually training us today."

_'Wait, hold the phone, who the fuck is Aratamete?' _Hana said mentally, glancing about with confusion before shrugging, though internally she was still plenty confused, and a little hurt. Presumably, Aratamete was her replacement. She knew she shouldn't be angry, Konoha ninja basically lived on teamwork, so to be missing a member would be rather crippling. But she'd be damned if it didn't hurt just a little to know that she'd been replaced so quickly. "Well, it doesn't matter, I've got deliveries to do, I'll probably see you again when your presumed dead friend tells me to take another to you." With a wave, she left, angry that her little plan had been foiled.

It was going just fine...until Sakura ruined it in any case.

* * *

**Hooray!**

**Sasuke hasn't been forgotten! And Sakura gets in the way like usual! Some of you are probably chomping at the bit wanting to know what the hell Hana was planning, but that's a secret. I do have a pretty fun idea bouncing around in my head, but it'll take it's time playing pinball for a while before it comes out.**


	17. Chapter 17

**_Chapter 17_**

* * *

Dangling her legs off the front of her father's nose, Hana gazed over Konoha with a critical yet relaxed eye.

She observed everything she could from her position on the nose of the Yondaime Hokage with a genjutsu applied to draw attention away from her and onto the rocks she was sat upon. If anybody were to look towards her, they would find their gaze drawn to their Hokage, a perfectly explainable reaction to seeing his face, and would thus likely dismiss it.

And what was she doing on this rather exposed position? Well, she was thinking. She needed Ryo. The Kage of Suna told her Konoha were getting all their missions. Thus, Konoha would be heavy with Ryo and missions. Now, she couldn't just waltz into the mission-dispensary and ask for a mission, she had to either be a ninja of the village, or have a special lease, as she did with Suna thanks to their generous Kage.

But then, she already had a ready-made job she could do.

Having been introduced to a Jonin and the Last Uchiha as a messenger, she had established what her job-type was quite neatly. And, with the village flooding in mission requests, surely a messenger, somebody people could request go to the mission office in their stead and take mission contracts for them perhaps, getting her to bring them to their doors at specified times so they could just head straight out to do their jobs, come home, write their report and handing it to Hana, and she could turn it in and give them the Ryo.

And, since she was such a 'weak messenger girl', they wouldn't be worried that she'd try and steal their Ryo. Sure, she could take one mission worth of Ryo, but it'd be like stabbing the hand that fed her, just a stupid idea. Anything above B-rank they'd make sure to be careful about anyway, since that much Ryo is a serious sum. Thinking it over in her head, Hana gave a shrug.

If her endeavour turned out badly, she could just use her Hiraishin and head back to Suna, adopt a different Henge when she next dropped a letter off and make sure to simply letter-box it. It'd mean she would have to find some other way to get a look at how Sasuke was doing, but she'd make do. Besides, if she stipulated that up to low B-rank missions, she get a flat 1% cut of the mission pay, that seemed reasonable, and a good way to make Ryo. Fifty Ryo, about three pounds and fifty pence, for essentially delivering the absolute cheapest dregs of a D-rank to somebody and taking their report back there in the evening, that wasn't honestly that bad. Anything above a B-rank she'd negotiate the exact payment with whoever she was delivering the assignment to, but she'd make sure to keep it a reasonable amount.

Reason for that being a simple fact. A typical A-rank mission could net between 150,000 and 1,000,000 Ryo. That meant that in GBP, it was between 10,400 and 71,400 pounds. That was some serious cash, and as such, making an exception was just fine, since it'd be unfair to demand payment of Ryo equal to a hundred pounds and change for simply delivering a scroll from the office, taking a scroll to said office, then delivering Ryo to the ninja who did the mission.

And, with some patience, she could work up a route, where she would essentially get paid small amounts of varying Ryo just by gathering up a bunch of mission scrolls for the lazy or busy ninja, then dispersing them to their assigned Shinobi. In the evening, she would go around and collect those scrolls, alongside the after-mission reports, and take them to the mission office. Hand those in, get the Ryo for some of those ninjas and give it out, taking her cuts. Then, repeat a few times, since taking that much Ryo out all at once and regularly would just be asking for a thief to target her, and Voilá!

As she thought her plan over and worked a few kinks out, she smiled, not realizing that she was going to have a far bigger impact than she'd assumed.

* * *

"Eh?"

Hana put one hand on her hip, the other still holding the scroll. "As I said, they specifically told me to give you this mission. When I told them you wanted a C-rank, they insisted, and refused to exchange it." She stuck the assignment out to the ninja, who seemed a bit peeved that he was being forced onto a B-rank by a little girl, even if she wasn't actually the one ordering him to take the mission. "Look, if you seriously aren't gonna accept this, just tell me that so I can do my rounds, then I'll take the assignment back and they can figure out what they want to do about it, it's no skin off my back."

The man quickly reached forward and took the paper, tearing it slightly as he wrenched it from her hand and closed the door without a word, grumbling. With a shrug, Hana stuck her hands into her miniskirt and skipped down the stairs with a hum, refusing to let his rudeness even slightly get to her. Things were seriously looking up for her.

Firstly, she had returned to Suna and finished her seal, taking the twenty Odachi and making haste to the Capital, getting a rather irritatingly warm greeting from the Head Guardsman for her timely delivery. But, more happily to the girl, the Blacksmith had truly to his word given her the Naginata, which was now locked onto her back with Chakra magnets and hidden entirely by her Henge. She couldn't use it very well, but it was far from a weak weapon, and she could still pole-vault with it if necessary. She had her obligatory weekly session with Kankuro, showing off that she could crudely control her puppet with one hand, with far better control on both hands.

Quite annoyingly, Kankuro hadn't managed to get the hang of what she'd tried to teach him, forcing her to walk him through the entire thing again. He at least had the decency to look sheepish. He then completely made up for it and then some, to the point Hana wanted to kiss him though she obviously didn't do and instead settled for giving him a hug, by taking note of the weapon on her back and, after he rather bluntly asked whether she could use it, told her that their Jonin-sensei, Baki, actually knew some Bukijutsu, more specifically with a Bo staff. It wasn't quite the same, as she had to contend with the weight of metal on the end of the Naginata, but he could at least teach her how to use a polearm, allowing her to simply adjust for the extra weight and fact the Naginata had a bladed edge.

After that, she had visited Masataro and gotten the finished parts for her Matchlock, forking over the Ryo she had set aside with a wince. She had specifically set aside that money, as she really didn't want to antagonize the only blacksmith she knew in the city by not being able to pay for her custom-parts, but it was still reptty aggravating to know that if she seriously needed to buy anything, she'd not have the Ryo for it.

Food and water was no problem, she had sealed away plenty of water, and she knew enough about hunting and preparing game that she was confident enough to gather her own food. Several of the seals in her bag were space-time seals, so the food within would never go bad. Sometimes, Hana really wondered why the ninja of her world thought on such a 2-dimensional level. It was truly mind-boggling how nobody had thought of those simple things. Though perhaps many Fuinjutsu masters did think of them, and just passed them down as 'Hiden' techniques, that only their direct students would learn, leaving the rest of the world floundering helplessly.

Finally, she had approached about a dozen Chunin and Jonin Konoha-nin with her proposition. It was surprising just how warmly her idea was received, as apparently, a lot of nin really hated having to go and wait at the mission office. So, having a friendly face deliver their mission with a smile was far better than being met with a bland face and monotonous voice telling them what was available for the day.

Of course, they lost the choice of exactly what they did, but they could just tell Hana what, vaguely, they were able to do. A shinobi would never tell a civilian their exact skills, but just giving her the gist of what sort of missions they were proficient at was good enough. Then, as she gave them their Ryo in the evening, they could tell her what rank they'd like the next morning, if they wanted a mission at all, before sending her off happily. Sure, they lost a single percent of their pay, but to skip the mission office entirely and not have to drag themselves from their homes just to wait in line and be met by a tired and bored shinobi to hand their report in and get their pay, they'd give up more than one measly percent, especially of relatively mediocre missions.

A few expressed worry that Hana would get targetted when bringing their Ryo, but she had accounted for this. Within a second she would have brought a Kunai to her hand, brandishing it and looking quite confident in herself. Of course, to those trained Shinobi, and to herself, it was like she was moving in slow-motion, but it served to prove that she was both not a threat to the shinobi themselves, whilst simultaneously proving that she was capable of protecting herself against normal civilian muggers. Having a blade in hand within a second was pretty good for a civilian after all.

On that day Hana got herself a dozen acceptances from those ninja, which had the added benefit of making her feel rather warm inside, which Kurami resoundingly yelled wasn't her doing something to make Hana feel good.

* * *

And so, her first day began. She technically started off the previous evening when proposing her offer to the dozen ninja and offering her services, being told roughly what mission-type they'd prefer and what rank, writing them all down in a notepad next to their name and address. When the morning came, Hana dragged herself out of her 'bed' with Kurami, appearing within a forest in Konoha and stretching, before setting her sights on the mission office.

As she wasn't yet trusted as the newly dubbed Messenger-hime, she was forced to bring proof of the Shinobi she was taking missions out for, which were just their identification cards and their signature, to the office. She knew that after a few days or weeks of her regularly picking up missions, they'd become more lax around her, allowing her to take the lesser-ranked missions out in those ninja's names and not really questioning it. Exactly as Hana wanted.

While she was pretty happy with the amount of Ryo she was going to be earning, it still felt a bit boring, since she'd have something to do during the morning and evening, but nothing to take time up during the day outside of her projects. So, she figured that when the office became more lax, she could take out a few missions even when those Shinobi weren't actually having a mission that day, completing it on her own and handing it in with all the rest, pocketing the Ryo and leaving nobody the wiser.

She'd have to be subtle about it, making sure the ninja she was acting in the name of didn't notice that they had far more missions complete than they remembered, but an extra one or two could be written off easily enough. As long as nobody remarked about how they were impressed that said ninja had completed their mission already when seeing them around town, she'd be absolutely fine.

Arriving in the office, she quickly queued up for the line of ninja waiting for a mission, ignoring the stares and chuckles she got from the assembled ninja. In their eyes, she was a civilian girl with a messenger-bag on her back and no Hitai-ate on her body. A few eyes were drawn to the Kunai she had hidden under her miniskirt, but most just found her amusing.

As she stepped up to the counter, laying out the dozen identification cards, signatures and requests for various ranks of missions, she could practically hear the tension in the air as the room froze. "Hi there!" She chirped happily at the gawping man in charge of distributing missions that morning. "These twelve wanted me to pick up their missions for them. They gave me their ID cards, they signed these papers, and they want these missions please." The silence continued pervading the air. "Ano, if you want, you can go and ask each of them, I believe the closest is..." She made a show of turning away from the papers and closing her eyes. "Uhh...Hiramagi-san?" She turned around again, looking at the paper and smiling brightly. "Yep, we can go ask him if you want?"

At once, the room practically erupted, many of whom calling for whether such a thing was allowed, what was going to happen, who exactly she even was, it was a fucking beautiful sight for Hana. An extremely commanding yell for "CALM!" called out, and at once all the ninja stopped what they were doing, turning towards the owner of the voice, a rather confused-looking Sarutobi Hiruzen, who locked eyes with Hana and smiled kindly, to which Hana forced herself to respond with. "Now then, I'm sure this little one has an explanation, hmm?"

"R-right Hokage-sama! Eto...so, these nin-" She pulled up her sheet, thrusting it towards the Hokage with slightly shaking hands, who took it with a smile, "-all agreed when I asked them whether they wanted someone to gather up missions for them all! I...I can't be a ninja, so I thought I could help them! And..." She lowered her head and murmured softly. "...and I can get Ryo for candy."

The Hokage chuckled softly, and Hana genuinely blushed and felt embarrassed at hearing a few of those hardened killers going 'Aww' at her. She could put a Kunai into the trachea of most, if not all, of them, yet they thought she was cute. "Well young one, do you have a name?"

"Hai!" She perked back up, smiling brightly. "I'm Katami!"

"Well Katami-chan, you understand how...strange this is to happen, right?" Hana tilted her head, a frown on her lips.

"How so 'Kage-sama? They wanted their missions at home ready for them, and I can give them those missions with a smile, then just...bring their reports here, give them in, take their Ryo to them, and repeat the next day." Hana hung her head. "They seemed happy enough with the idea..." Feeling a hand on her hair, Hana had to resist the urge to jab a Kunai into it, instead tipping her head up to look at the Hokage smiling down at her.

"The Will of Fire flows strongly through your veins Katami-chan, trying to help even when you aren't able to in the traditional sense." Turning to face the assorted Shinobi, she watched the man as he slipped his face into something more commanding, hand still atop her head. "This,-" He patted Hana's head. "-is what we all are here to nurture. This young girl, too weak in Chakra to fight as we do, still trying her hardest to help in any way she can. Truly, not in a conventional sense, not by becoming a baker, or craftswoman, or any common civilian trade, but by directly assisting those who protect our village, easing their work and providing a friendly face for them to return home to."

Hana didn't mean to, but the man had a way with words, his speech lighting a fire within the hearts of everyone present, including Hana's. Sure, she wasn't a Leaf-nin, nor did she feel particularly attached to her old village, but it still felt nice to be praised as such a piece within the whole. Feeling his hand lifting from her hair with a final tousle, Hana found herself gazing back at more than a few rather eager shinobi, and she sighed. "Well, I only have so much time in the day to get to you all, but..." She took a breath, and plastered the biggest and most innocent grin on her face she could muster, raising a fist into the air for emphasis. "-I'll do my best!" The room subsequently all had heart attacks at the adorableness on display.

Hana had never felt so embarrassed.

* * *

**So cute!**

_**We get it Fire.**_

**BUT YOU DOOOOON'T! Imagine it. A bunch of rather bored shinobi watch as this girl with a messenger-bag comes in and queues up. She reveals that a dozen shinobi basically get to laze about until she brings their missions to their door, and when she sees how they all want her to do that for them, she puffs up, puts on a big grin, and declares "I'll do my best!" with her fist raised.**

**It's too cute.**

**By the way, anybody who spots a stupid tangent I began then forgot about, please bloody mention them. I miss stuff way too often to be happy with my own work, so any errors, any ideas I started and then forgot about, please point 'em out to me! Cheers, and I hope you're all enjoying this drivel so far! Next chapter is probably gonna be another 50/50 for smut and not smut.**


	18. Chapter 18

**I actually want to tear my own hair out.**

**Seriously. Contemplating ALL the ramifications for what I've changed so far is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE ASKHJNAFGD!**

_**Very eloquent there Fire.**_

**Fuck you. Trying to figure out exactly what the sequence of events are now that Naruto, ahem NARUTO, the main character, is a different person and not in the fucking village any more! The ramifications for that alone are huge. And that's not the only thing. Sasuke grew up with somebody, so he isn't a mopey-ass avenger any-more. Gaara actually talks to Shukaku, face-to-face, and gets himself a partnership! Like...Seriously? What the fuck even is canon any more? It's all gone to La-La Land.**

**...I wanted to figure out the Chunin exams today, I had a notepad thing ready and everything, I was gonna plan out exactly what happens for those, and you want to know the first fucking thing I wrote? Hmm? It was fucking nothing. Where the fuck do you start with this mess? Ugh. Welp, if I miss something, whatever, ret-conning shit is gonna be the motto here.**

**What's that? Akatsuki is coming in however many years? Well fuck em, they're coming a year late because Hana flipped the bird at one of them and made 'em cry. Kakashi didn't feel pressured, so didn't teach Sasuke the Chidori? Because of the extra year, he still got Sasuke to learn it. But wait, there's FUCKING more. Sasuke never got the curse mark? Well, he wants to find Hana and Itachi, so he's still strongly willed towards finding his wayward siblings and gets motivated to train absurdly hard under Kakashi, learning everything he could about the Sharingan and whatnot, getting the snake-summon still by reverse-summoning his ass there since he's meant to have them and the timeline is trying to fix itself and**

**WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH THIS STORY! *breaks down fucking sobbing* I seriously have no idea what's going on anymore.**

_**There, there. Maybe writing...lemme check, right...writing over 75,000 words within two weeks is a bad idea, hmm?**_

**But I enjoyed it! You're right. Not gonna stop though. I'm in too deep to pull out now. Hmm, maybe making Kurami go too deep into Ha-**

_**ENJOY THE CHAPTER EVERYONE!**_

**...Spoilsport. Also, sorry for the rant.**

_**Chapter 18**_

* * *

The buzzing sound of shuriken being thrown snatched Hana's attention, drawing her to deftly sidestep and watch three stars impacting the wall ahead of her with thunking sounds as they sliced into the wood.

Turning around, she found the visage of a man with a black...cloth. Just, literally a black piece of fabric wrapped around his nose and mouth, making her stifle a giggle as he glared at her, attempting to look intimidating. "You know, you really shouldn't bite off more than you can chew bud." Apparently the man wasn't expecting her to seem so unphased by his little display. And sure, it was cute that he could throw shuriken well enough to make them buzz, very intimidating indeed...for a civilian.

The real ninja knew how to throw them correctly, preventing that buzzing noise entirely. What good is a weapon if your opponent can hear it coming from the moment it leaves your fingers? Any good Shinobi would have heard- Oh right, she wasn't meant to be a good shinobi at the moment. She was still in Konoha, and according to Konoha, she was just a civilian girl who took missions to the ninja. Anybody with a few connections would learn that she also took their Ryo to them when they handed in the mission scrolls.

Anybody with the final level of connection would realize however that trying to attack her was a fucking terrible idea. Putting aside the fact she carried herself with at least some modicum of strength and had a Kunai or two tied under her miniskirt, the ninja liked her, and for a damn good reason. Any ninja who went on a harder and more mentally exhausting mission didn't want to be met by an uncaring face. So Hana made sure she wasn't uncaring, ever. Greeting them kindly, showing thanks for their hard work, making sure they knew that, no matter what, they'd done a good job. Hell, she had one guy look so dead on his feet she got him settled into his sofa, made the poor guy a damn good cup of tea, got his feet kicked up and spent a good half-hour just reacclimatizing him to Konoha, making small talk and drawing him out of his dazed state.

And they all loved her for it, this weird yet welcoming presence that had just swept into their lives. They'd be damned if some random civilian asshole thief ruined that.

Apparently, this guy was somewhere on the second level of knowledge, enough of an idiot to think he could just take the Ryo she was carrying and there'd be no way to detect his crime, and he'd be untraceable, with the Ryo worthy of a ninja in his pockets. Of course, she wasn't actually carrying a lot of Ryo, because that'd be stupid. She made sure to never carry more than a certain amount, which certainly put many of the ninjas at ease, who were worried about this exact situation occurring and all the Ryo being stolen.

There were only a few ninja that cared more about their Ryo being stolen than 'Katami' suddenly vanishing from their lives. She was kind of like a casual and friendly therapist, acting a bit like a soothing balm for the nin without actually doing much aside from being kind and helpful. With a sigh, she watched the man hurriedly dig into his pocket and pull out two Kunai. "Give up the Ryo girly and I'll let you live." He took a step forward, brandishing his Kunai, and Hana resigned herself to spending the evening dragging the guy to the Hospital.

"Man, the guy really went for it, huh?" Hana had to force herself to act surprises when a ninja with a white and painted red mask dropped down, knocking the guy out like he was a blade of grass and turning his mask to face her. "Though well done for keeping your cool...Messenger-hime." She made a show of peering at him cautiously. She'd felt his signature, muffled as it was, looking down from above her. Even if the guy was a Chunin, she wouldn't have been worried about her cover being blown.

It was weird, feeling a muffled signature following her around a lot. Clearly the Hokage thought she was somebody worth protecting within the village. It was...a little aggravating since it made it all the harder to slip away and vanish back to Suna, but she made do. It was always funny to think about, knowing how panicked her escorts must get when she seemingly vanished into thin air when they lost sight of her for mere moments. It was a miracle that no Hyuuga was brought in to observe her.

Of course, it could end up with them one day outright demanding to know what she was doing to evade their best ANBU or bringing in the aforementioned Hyuuga and busting her status as a civilian, but so long as she didn't mysteriously vanish and not come back for a while, she was sure they'd take it in stride, preferring to enjoy pondering the mystery. "Thank you...uhh...Mask-san?" She asked, hearing the man chuckle softly.

"We're ANBU." He said with a shake of his head.

"Well, thank you ANBU-san!" She then hopped forwards, fast enough to be swift but not quick enough to unsettle him, patting him on the shoulder and smiling. "Good job!" She hated her new facade a lot, but her persona would do it, so she would also do such a thing, even if it felt so weird getting that close to an experienced ninja and knowing that with a single misstep she'd be in T&I, regardless of how much the shinobi liked her.

Because they didn't like her. They liked Katami, the friendly and a little personal-space-invading Messenger-chibi who made sure to help them out of the dark places their missions took them, making tea and chatting a half-hour away, slipping them away from the darkness of whatever mission haunted them. They didn't like Hana, who in their eyes was a traitor to the village for no discernable reason, nothing for them to point at and say 'This actually makes sense, and I can appreciate why she wanted to leave'.

And, the real kicker, they most certainly didn't like Kurami. If those same ninjas she had broken bread with, had laughed with and helped out in so many small ways, many of which Hana herself didn't realize, found out that Hana was the Jinchuriki for the hated nine-tailed fox...they'd stick a Kunai twixt her eyes before she could say a word. She didn't need to be told, she saw it in the festival they ran every year, with effigies of Kurami being thrown onto bonfires like a demented 5th of November imitation.

And the worst part was that, from their perspective, Hana could partially understand it. It really was just like the 5th of November, celebrating the successful foiling of destruction. For her old world, Guy Fawkes failing to blow up Parliament. For her new world, Kurami 'failing' to destroy Konoha. And so, they celebrated. And Hana hated that she even remotely understood just why they did what they did, reviling her beloved fox and praising the man who 'killed' her. Hana also praised him in her own weird way, thanking him for giving her the opportunity to meet her beloved, a sentiment that Kurami shared, at least a little.

"It was no trouble Messenger-hime." It was both amusing and annoying that the nickname her clients came up with on her first damn day had stuck so solidly in their minds, but it was good for solidifying her image as the cute 'messenger', the fucking princess of missions and happy welcome backs. Huh, maybe she'd be better named as Hestia or something, Goddess of Hearths rather than Katami, which literally meant Keepsake. It still vaguely fit her, she was definitely a token of remembrance for a lot of the Shinobi she talked to, a call to what they wished the future would be, with Katami being the thing that reminded them of why they fought.

Not that it mattered much. Hana was earning Ryo quickly, with at least a quarter of her entire morning and a half to two-thirds of each evening being taken up distributing missions, then going around collecting all the mission reports, turning missions in, and slogging about handing out Ryo like candy, having to regularly pick up more and more. It was a bit of a headache, and she had several note-pads full of Ryo counts, mission-types, rank requests, the works. It had gotten to the point she felt her new job infringing quite nastily on her puppet/Matchlock time. She could have let it cut into Kurami-time, but she'd give up her entire day if Kurami asked, damn the consequences.

Some things just weren't worth giving up, not for Hana. "Well, thanks again. So uhh...do I need to fill a report out...or go speak with someone. I do still have deliveries to make..." She tugged the strap of her bag for emphasis, quirking her lips. The man faced her for a few moments, and Hana imagined his face was contorted into a sheepish look behind his mask. "As long as it doesn't take literally the entire night I can still do my rounds, it'll just be a lot later before I'm done."

"...If you're sure Messenger-hime." He finally muttered, and Hana nodded. She was being honest, her rounds, while a bit disrupted, could still be completed, and while it'd cut into her planned puppeteering a little, it didn't really matter much. She still made quite a few missteps with her one-handed puppetry, but she was sufficient enough at it that she could do it reliably. With a stretch, she walked over to the masked man, looking down at the unconscious idiot with a pretty bland look.

"I seriously don't get it. Why would they even...like, seriously. I'm carrying like...eighty thousand ryo at most...I think. Is it really worth annoying the ninja who own this money, just for a quick payday? I mean, he'd have to leave the village if he didn't want to get caught, right?" She looked to the ANBU, who just sighed.

"That's right Messenger-hime. Even if he managed to take the Ryo, his scent is all over the place, getting a tracker to hunt him down and recover the Ryo would be easy. I'd be more worried about what all the others would do if he actually hurt you when taking the Ryo." Hana smiled. It did feel nice to know that if she suddenly disappeared or got hurt, there would be people to actually notice and care. Sure, Sasuke probably cared quite a bit when Hana disappeared, but most people didn't give her the time of day. Though, she had to give credit where it was due, she was glad that Hiruzen never outed her as the Jinchuriki, or they'd definitely be a lot worse. "Well, shall we?"

The man had hefted the would-be mugger onto his shoulder and was looking at her expectantly, so she slid the bag on her shoulder about a bit before falling behind him and trailing along, humming quietly and resisting the urge to pull her guitar out and play while she walked. Hmm, then again, using a scroll is far different to making one, since she'd seen the civilian on that water tower activate the seal and let the water flow.

Tipping her head, Hana shrugged and pulled out her scroll, unsealing her guitar and tucking the scroll back into her pouch, strumming once and making the Anbu in front of her actually jump in surprise and whirl around, seeing her innocent-looking face and glancing down at the guitar in her hands. When he glanced back up, Hana shrugged. "One of the guys taught me how to do it. I can take it out just fine, but putting it away again is annoying." She muttered the last part, plucking at the strings and humming. "D'ya reckon I could use one of these scroll-seal things to carry the Ryo around? It'd save space in my bag and make it easier to hide."

The man shook his head, the action jostling the limp body on his shoulder. "I don't know Hime, I don't use Fuinjutsu."

* * *

"Oh, hello again! So, you're Kakashi-san?"

She wouldn't admit it, but Hana was actually rather unsurprised when she knocked on the door to a new client and saw Kakashi looking back at her. The man was inherently lazy, so having someone deliver him missions without having to even leave his apartment was probably his idea of heaven. "Yo, messenger-chibi." He replied back, jabbing a thumb behind himself and walking into his apartment, collapsing down onto his sofa and looking pretty lax.

She could still see a slight tension in his muscles, the small level of always-ready that high-level ninja seemed to adopt no matter what, even within their own homes. It probably had to do with the fact she was in those same homes, since even if those ninjas trusted her with their Ryo, they were still markedly cautious. For her first few visits at least. "Sooo, what kind of missions are you looking at, and what ranks?" She took the liberty of settling herself on the couch opposite him.

"D-ranks, as long as they don't require specializations you can pick any. Make sure a typical genin team can handle them. I heard you sometimes accept special requests?" She nodded at him, and he gave her an eye-smile. "Then instead of taking the mission scroll here, can you take it to training ground three? My genin team will be there, so you can just give it to them."

Hana quirked her lips to the side, leaning forwards. "But surely they'd question exactly why I was delivering the mission." Kakashi waved her off.

"Sasuke will listen to you, you've met him before." Hana forced a look of realization to appear on her face, watching his eye crinkling up. "Yeah, he's one of my cute little genin. If needs be, just tell them that if they really want to push it they can come and talk to me directly, that should get the point across." Hana felt a bit annoyed to know that even after her disappearance, her old Jonin-sensei was still being so...so laid back and uncaring about training the team that would come to rely on him, but she bit that back and forced a smile onto her lips.

"Cool! So, D-rank missions for the genin, make sure they don't need to specifically be able to do, and I assume try to get the Tora mission as much as possible?" The mild surprise that flickered across Kakashi's face made Hana smirk. "Kakashi-san, you aren't the first Jonin-sensei to ask me for missions to give their genin teams, and a lot of them seem to absolutely adore making their teams hunt Tora down. I mean, I don't get exactly why catching a cute little neko is so hard, but I suppose a shinobi would know what I was missing."

After a little more chatter and figuring out exactly how they would divvy up the money from the missions the genin completed, Hana was on her way out the door, not noticing the slight flicker of motion as Kakashi Shunshin'd himself for a brief moment, too fast for her to see. In the end, they settled for the same 1% cut, since Kakashi wouldn't see a single Ryo of those missions, as all the Ryo would be going to his students. Each of them would receive 0.33% less of their payment than expected, adding it up to Hana's single-percent cut, which seemed reasonable enough.

Not that Hana would be earning very much compared to some of her other clients. Repeating D-rank missions weren't worth very much, but it was still good enough regular money to be well worth the time spent delivering those scrolls. Tugging idly on her bag-strap, she made her way down the steps from Kakashi's door, heading out onto the bustling crowd before casually winding through the streets, a slight smile on her face.

She made a few more stops to the ninja who asked her to come by in the morning so they had time to decide what they wanted, writing their requests down and leaving them all with a smile. With an idle thought, she wondered about making a notepad that she could essentially clean off using a seal, that way she didn't have to carry several around, instead just keeping one and cleaning off the oldest records when she ran out of room.

Hopping up the steps to the mission office, she gave happy grins and over-enthusiastic waves to the men and women she passed, stopping once or twice for short conversations before she even made it through the doors. The office was resoundingly less full than the first time she visited, with many of the people at home waiting for her rather than queueing up here for missions. Only a few people actually came to the office, and they presumably had reasons for that. Maybe they didn't trust her, maybe they worried she'd lose their mission report. Perhaps they just didn't want to give up one percent of their pay to her.

It didn't matter to Hana. She was making good Ryo, enough to fund her projects quite easily, so having a portion of ninja who didn't get their missions through her didn't really affect her very much. Spotting the hat of the Hokage, however, was not what Hana expected when she entered the office. Evidently he was waiting to spot her, since he immediately moved when he saw her come in and made to approach her, cutting through the throng of assembled ninja with experienced steps.

As he approached, Hana grew a little apprehensive, since she couldn't really think of any particular reason as to why he would approach her. After his little rousing speech about the will of fire, she had seen him a few times and given him waves, which he responded to with smiles and nods, but nothing more than that. Obviously, something about her required his direct attention, and Hana couldn't fathom what she'd done.

"Ahh, Katami-chan, it's good to see you." He said when he got close, smiling down at her.

"Hi Hokage-sama! It's good to see you too." Hana looked a little sheepish then. "Did...you need me for something? I promised Kakashi-san I'd get his mission to his students first, and I don't want to be late."

The man frowned a moment before sighing. "Katami-chan, are you available to meet with me in my office before you make your rounds for the morning? It's not an urgent matter, but I would prefer to discuss this with you as soon as possible." The tone he had made it clear that it wasn't something she could just weasel out of, and Hana shrugged.

"Hai Hokage-sama. I'll be up in about ten minutes, is that okay?" The man nodded, a smile back on his face. "Then, I'll see you then!"

* * *

**Soo, what does Hiruzen want with our cute little Messenger-chibi? Only time...and the next chapter, will tell!**

**Also, there will be a bit of a time-skip at some point, mostly because I want to.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Yo, AO3-level stuff on the second half of this. Here's a link, go enjoy that if you want, otherwise remain here for the normal content:**

_**Chapter 19**_

* * *

Standing inside of the Hokage's office and watching him send his ANBU away, activating his privacy seals, Hana honestly was confused.

She had absolutely no fucking idea what the old man was doing. Sure, he was damn strong, and she knew that even with Kurami fully releasing her Chakra and letting her fight at full strength, she would stand no chance against the man, but it was still baffling that he would just casually send away his guards like that. Before she could think more on it, the man finished activating his seals, and turned to look at her with an implacable gaze. "Please, drop the Henges Hana."

Those...those five fucking words. The instant she heard her name, Hana felt the overwhelming urge to immediately vanish back to Suna. She knew she could still do it, as she had practised making seals designed to block her Hiraishin and then subsequently working around them, and she could feel that none of the seals he activated were stopping her from doing so.

But something, be it idle curiosity, or simply overconfidence in the knowledge that she could escape in an instant, kept her firmly rooted within his office.

Staring at the old man's implacable face for a moment, Hana crossed her fingers, breaking her uppermost layer of Henge for a moment before shrugging and going all the way. He'd already seen her in her true form, so it wasn't like it mattered all that much. Idly reminding Kurami to let her Chakra climb up to a moderate level above what she was like upon leaving the village as to give the illusion of growth, she broke the rest of her Henges, sighing with something akin to comfort when she felt the now-familiar appendages being freed from their Henged confines.

When she made her Henge turn her tail and ears non-corporeal, it felt akin to stuffing her ears into a hat three sizes too small, and shoving her tail up into a bundle within her shorts. To put it simply, it was very unpleasant, but she bit her tongue and contained her discomfort. That was why she released her Henge every chance she got, most of the time consisting of being within the safety and privacy of her seal.

With a blink to clear her thoughts, she turned a questioning gaze towards Hiruzen. "So, how'd you figure it out?"

"Come now Hana-chan, must you be so cold?" The glare her face contorted into made him raise a hand to placate her. "And it was very much the same way we found out initially." So, Kakashi saw her. She didn't know exactly how he managed to get eyes on her with his Sharingan, but it wasn't far above the realm of possibility that he just happened to spot her and took a look out of curiosity.

"Right. So, what happens now?" She asked bluntly, folding her arms and refusing to stand still, stepping about with a seemingly casual walk, though really she was anything but casual. She didn't like being in that room, with a Shinobi far more powerful than her in terms of combat skill. Sure, she had more Chakra than him but, to be honest, if Kurami stopped holding so much of it, she probably had more Chakra than anybody in Konoha at that moment. Where that didn't help was in actual combat experience.

She'd done sparring, sure, but she'd dipped out of Konoha before she could fight a single proper fight. She'd gotten into a few scuffles with drunkards and idiots who thought she'd be a good target in Suna, but a Kunai near the manhood usually dissuaded the latter, with the former requiring a more blunt approach. Involving her fists. But she had never gotten into a life-and-death situation, where her life was on the life against somebody who wanted to kill her, and she in return.

The thought honestly scared the reincarnated girl. While she could hunt, kill and cook an animal just fine, there was something far more...visceral and line-crossing about taking the life of another human. In her old life, she would never have thought in a million years that she'd have to take a life. While soldiers did such a thing and it wasn't frowned upon, she was a civilian, she'd never even considered the faintest notion that she would take a life one day.

"What happens now is up to you Hana-chan." Hiruzen's voice drew her from her thoughts, and she looked upon him blankly, willing him to elaborate. "You are now officially a missing-nin, for leaving Konoha and going AWOL. Since nobody was harmed during your exfiltration, you are regarded as a very strict capture-only target, with killing being completely off the table...for obvious reasons." He gestured towards her abdomen, and Hana got the picture pretty quick. If they killed her trying to retrieve her, the seal would fail, and Kurami would, in their eyes, run rampant.

Of course, Kurami would definitely do so, but not for the reasons they expected. She would probably destroy Konoha entirely in her rage if they were to murder Hana. Just thinking that made Hana feel warm inside, knowing just how much she meant to Kurami. "Right. What I don't get though...is why the fuck I'm not in T&I already?" A flash of something crossed the man's face, but Hana was a little too slow to spot what it was before the man tucked it away behind his grandfatherly visage once again.

"Hana-chan, neither I nor you wish for such a thing to happen. If I may, what truly prompted you to leave our village, leave your team behind?" Hana chuckled, a sound so devoid of humour it made the Kage cringe slightly, it was so similar to the noise she made that afternoon months ago when she left after ranting at them.

"Hokage-sama-" She practically spat the typically revered title like a curse. "-did you actually remember a fucking thing I said that day? Or were you too busy trying to consider the military and political repercussions of your Jinchuriki disappearing?" Sighing, Hana rubbed her eyes with her fingers. "Listen. I love Kurami, with all my heart, and she to me means everything."

Taking a moment to step towards the window, Hana flung her hand out to wave it at the village through the windows. "And, to them? To them, she's the demon fucking fox. Now, pray tell, what exactly would the village do if it came out that I was not just a Jinchuriki, but that I was in love with the fox that they'd harboured hatred towards for over a decade?" Hana didn't have to say anything more, she could see it in his eyes when he realized. "Yeah." Was all she muttered, turning away from the village.

"Then...why did you do what you have been doing for the village?" He sounded genuinely confused, and Hana laughed softly, a little real amusement coming through.

"Would you believe me if I started off doing that simply because I needed Ryo? Because that's the truth of it. I was low on cash, and I couldn't take actual missions, so instead I decided to just...approach a dozen random Chunin and Jonin with my proposal. Under a Henge and with my Chakra held back by Kurami-chan of course. They seemed happy enough with the arrangement, and your own endorsement of what I was doing seriously helped. Before long, half the village wanted me doing the same for them." Hana shrugged on the last sentence. It was quite funny that the man had accidentally helped her far more than he probably ever intended. Having the Hokage himself saying that he liked what she was doing was like lighting a fire under the village's collective asses about trusting her.

He chuckled when Hana mentioned his endorsement. "I stand by what I said. While it is no longer entirely accurate, you still did what I said, using your own meagre skills that you were able to whilst undercover to simultaneously make Ryo and help the Shinobi of our village." Hana twitched when he called it our village, and the old man sighed. "Hana-chan, this is still your home, nothing can change that."

"BUT IT ISN'T!" Hana yelled, clamping her hands over her mouth the instant she said it. The Hokage looked rather confused at her outburst, and she berated herself for her loose lips. Deciding to simply go for a cover-up, she glared. "This isn't home any more. I don't want it to be. For me, home is where my loved one, where Kurami is." She laid a hand on her abdomen, her face softening. "I carry my home with me every day...with my loved one never more than a thought away..." She trailed off, letting her eyes glaze slightly before re-focusing. "You wanted to know why I left? It's because I wanted to be free, to love who I wanted, to be with who I wanted. And here, in the village that reviles Kurami, I could never be open about it."

Hana was ready. She could immediately use her Hiraishin, she was poised to continue arguing, to do a lot of things. "...Did Kakashi let you read his Icha Icha?"

Hana...was not ready for that to be his next words. "E-excuse me?" Looking at his face, Hana wanted to put her head through a table. He was smiling. After all she'd said about her decisions, he was fucking smiling at her.

"Well, you have it in your head that what you have for Kurami is love-" He quickly hurried his next words when he saw Hana's face contort into anger "which is fine, but I wondered just where these thoughts came from. The way you described it is definitely similar to some of the situations in those books." With a sigh, Hana just shrugged.

"I dunno, I just know. I know what I'm feeling isn't just some silly crush. "This-" She yanked the front of her scarf down slightly to reveal her collar, smirking at the surprise that washed quite plainly across the man. "-is more than just a crush. It's a promise. I am hers, and she is mine, from that day until the end of days. Trust me Hiruzen-sama, I know what I'm feeling."

She turned away from him then, walking over to the window and gazing back out over the village. Hearing him stand up and come to be stood a respectable distance from her, gazing over the village, made her appreciate the mans tact. "I have seen many children with infatuation or crushes come through the Academy beneath our feet, all of whom told me the same thing you did, that what they felt was more than a crush, more than infatuation. But, when I look at you...I remember just how vehemently you protected her, despising your own parents for what they did."

Hana smiled. "I came to terms with that. While I still hate them both for trapping Kurami, if they didn't...I wouldn't have ever met her." She admitted softly, a hand gently rubbing the area of her seal. Hiruzen watched this from the corner of his eye, a smile on his own lips as he watched her.

"When you left...I honestly didn't know what to feel." He said, watching her tense up slightly. "I felt angry that you'd betray us, I felt confusion, worry, many things. But, most of all, I felt like a failure." Hana snapped her face to see him looking out over his village. "I promised your father that I'd look after you. I promised...but when you left, I felt as though I'd broken that promise. That you would meet your end or walk down the wrong path."

The old man turned to fully face her. "But, seeing you here, so...content with your own choices...it...I can't change how our village works, not for the wishes of a single girl. But, perhaps, I can make an exception." The wry smile on his face made Hana's heart stop momentarily.

"Wha-..." Was all she managed, as she saw him pull out a piece of paper from his robes and hand it to her. As she read, he continued.

"As I'm sure you know, two of our most prestigious and famous ninja live beyond our walls permanently, one travelling to escape her grief, the other providing an essential supply of information, under the guise of his 'research' obviously." As Hana realized just what he was suggesting, she snapped her eyes up to pierce his own, searching for the deceit, for the rug he was about to pull. "I'd like you to come back. You won't be held within the village like a genin, Kami knows you are strong enough to survive on your own, but I'd still like to have you here. Even if it's only a once every six months check-in, knowing that you are safe...it would put my heart at ease."

When she saw how genuine he was, she looked back down at the scroll, reading through it frenetically. As she read the last words, she let a slow sigh slip from her lips, looking up to his gaze again. "If...if we do this...I want to be allowed the option to refuse orders and give whatever reason I state." When he opened his mouth to ask why, she already was ahead of him. "Sometimes it'd be because I simply cannot follow them. Sometimes my reason will seem a bit...odd, as though they aren't actually reasonable. But...this is important to me. And, on the flip-side, I'll still continue doing what I have been, still under my alias, of course, no need to freak people out. You can't deny that my influence has helped your Shinobi immensely." Taking a few steps and sitting back down at his desk, she watched the Kage as he pulled out a pen, laying it on the desk and smiling at Hana.

"And, hopefully, soon it'll be 'Our' shinobi again."

* * *

Kurami yawned as she felt Hana shifting against her.

It was always rather tiring to watch as her beloved worked endlessly on her various seals, many of which eluded Kurami entirely in their usage. One of which looked like it swirled around into an overly elaborate explosive tag, but Hana pointed out another small cluster of nodes to Kurami when she brought that up, which then the seal turned into a Kawarimi-style tag, one tuned to Hana's chakra to substitute herself with whatever she slapped the tag to.

But, when she expressed her notice of this, Hana then, with a sigh of exasperation and happiness at the same time, pointed out a very thin line joining two sections Kurami thought were separate, and the entire seal worked in an entirely different way. Kurami did not envy the poor soul who took a glance at her seal and assumed it was one thing, only to find it doing an entirely different thing. Hiding a complicated seal under the guise of a simple one was a rather genius way to hide what her tags did.

It was incredible to watch Hana swirling her brush on those pieces of sealing paper, making beautifully intricate and perfectly drawn seals. The problem lay in the fact that Kurami was, by nature, a very active creature. She loved running about, playing, doing things. She didn't much like being sat down for hours on end, though she did so just because Hana liked having her behind her back, acting like, as she specifically said, 'a big fluffy pillow of beautiful.'

When Hana made a thoughtful noise, Kurami leaned her head over to rest atop her shoulder, looking down at the seal and not even beginning to start trying to analyse it all. It was huge. The paper she was drawing on was bigger than she was, and there was ink scrawled in intricate circles, lines, zig-zags, and so many other shapes and sizes. What she didn't fail to notice was how it was vaguely human-shaped.

_**"Hana, what exactly are you trying to achieve with this?" **_Kurami had learnt quickly that Hana much preferred being bluntly asked things, rather than trying to dance around it. While she liked also having Kurami figure out what she was doing alone, even she acknowledged that certain things she did were just entirely incomprehensible to the fox.

"Well...secret." She said quickly, putting the stick of her brush onto her lips and accidentally dabbing a tiny bit of ink on her forehead. "Oh dammit." She quickly wiped the ink off, popping her brush into a pot and stretching her arms out, leaning back against Kurami's fur with a pleased sigh. "Seriously though, take your time. If you can figure this out without me explaining it... I'd be seriously impressed. If I wasn't using my eye, even I would have forgotten half of what this seal is doing."

By the time Hana had looked at Kurami, her Sharingan was already gone, and Kurami nuzzled her cheek in adoration for that. She specifically avoided calling it a Sharingan, never using it when Kurami could see it, always facing away when she activated it and hiding it when she needed to turn around. _**"So, you want me to figure this one out, hmm? Do I win a prize if I do?"**_

Hana smiled, lifting her arm to caress Kurami's ear from the other side, drawing their cheeks together. "Well, I wouldn't call it a prize since I'd give it freely anyway..." She breathed, giving Kurami a peck on her cheek before looking back at her seal. "It's not done yet, not even remotely close, and I need to finish one of my projects before it'll become useful, but that'll only take a few weeks. The real bitch is gonna be applying this seal."

As Hana spoke, Kurami got more and more curious. Hana was deliberately feeding her information, which meant this seal was far more complicated than she realized. Hana had only done that once in regards to her seals. She had a few projects going on, but only one of them had the potential for needing a human-sized seal...but, then again, she had regaled the fox with tales of how her 'Gun' generated recoil, and for the unprepared could actually knock them over. Maybe the seal was for that, rather than for her puppet? Or maybe she had an entirely new project she was keeping secret?

Looking over the seal, Kurami quickly got hopelessly lost within the endless black lines, which crossed over, merged and split freely, diving about all over the place like a pit of snakes. There were dozens of circular, triangular and even a few nonagonal points on the seal, but the very centre...Kurami lost count and had to start over a few times, but the shape in the very middle looked like something close to a thirty-sided shape. Each point had at least two black lines of ink flowing from it, with the ones at the cardinal directions housing five or more.

It honestly was both the most beautiful and most terrifying thing Kurami had seen. This seal was, without a doubt, the most complicated she had ever laid eyes on. And she had seen all of Hana's, some of which still worried her a little when remembering that many of them were stored within a chest sealed to the point of paranoia and locked in place at the very centre of the mindscape, along with several other valuable objects Hana owned. _**"I...I don't even know where to start Hana."**_

"Then don't." She felt Hana's hand slip up the side of her head, the warm caress of her lips as she gave her a kiss to her cheek again. "I said, didn't I? 'Take your time'. The seal isn't going anywhere, nor is it finished yet." She slid her other hand to Kurami's other ear, caressing them both and drawing Kurami's head to be above her, pressing a kiss under her chin. "And I'd give this freely anyway..."

* * *

**Gasp! Smut that occurs off-screen?! Dun dun duu! The world is ending!**

**So, anybody wondering just what the hell kind of seal Hana is cooking up? I ain't giving any hints out, what you read is what you get. If somebody figures it out, cool. If not, oh well. And...she's going to be starting a new project soon. This one...it involves bells ringing. Take that how you want. It should be WAY easier to figure out =D**


	20. Chapter 20

**Boom, twenty chapters! And on day of writing, chapter 13 is going up, meaning I'm miles ahead of the curve. If I wanted, I could take a week off and still have chapters up every single day.**

**...I'm not going to though, it's hard work getting so far ahead. ****Also, I really hate trying to remember Japanese honorifics.**

**By the way, if any of you lovelies like this enough to want to support me, I do have a pat reon (I hate that fanfic****tion filters that name, seriously), and it would greatly help out. Even a pound a month is helpful! Don't feel obligated or anything, my work will still come out, but it would definitely help me out! If you want to do that whole donation thing, there's a link on my profile. Cheers boos!**

**Hope you enjoy. Twenty chapters written in twelve days, jeez.**

_**Chapter 20**_

* * *

"Hey there Sasuke."

Tipping his head around, Sasuke looked at the girl he remembered from a few weeks ago who delivered Hana's letter, observing as she strolled up to the assembled genin casually. "Hi." He replied back blandly.

"Wow, really feelin' all the warm greetings here, whatever." The girl turned to Sakura with a smile. "Yo. Didn't get to introduce myself when we met, was a little busy. I'm Katami." She stuck a hand out to shake. "Glad to meetcha." She claimed, watching Sakura look furtively at Sasuke before sticking her own hand out and clasping them together.

"Hi...Katami-san, I'm Sakura, Sasuke-kun's team-mate." She shook Katami's hand twice before releasing it, and the girl darted over to their third teammate.

Giving him a close look, Katami nodded at him, ignoring his extremely confused look. "Right, Sakura mentioned you I think, I'm gonna guess you're Aratamete?" The boy nodded once, slowly, and threw a glare at Sakura for telling her his name. "Well, you probably heard but whatever, I'm Katami." She stuck her hand again, but this time when he gripped it, she tugged him close and whispered something to him alone, making the boy blanch and confusing Sasuke.

"So, why are you here?" Sasuke asked, folding his arms. "I doubt she sent me another letter already." The girl shook her head.

"Nah, that chick said nothin' about another letter last I saw her. Eh, who knows, maybe she'll hunt you down directly." Walking over and leaning in, Sasuke was surprised when she whispered at him. "Last I heard, Hokage-sama managed to get her back into the village somehow. Don't even ask, I don't know how he did it. All I heard is she's a sort-of Konoha nin again." Nodding once when he looked at her, Sasuke watched her twist around and reach for her bag, fiddling with it for a few seconds before retrieving a scroll and handing to him. "But, I didn't just come to say hi. Your sensei got me delivering your scrolls, so I'll see you all here at..." She pulled a notepad from somewhere and checked it. "3 O'clock to pick up your signed scroll. Make fuckin' sure you actually get the client to sign it, because I'm not dealing with an unsigned genin mission again."

The inflection in her tone made Sasuke cringe as he imagined the hells an irate messenger-girl could cause the team for screwing something as simple as getting a signature up. "We won't." He claimed solidly, getting a searching look for a moment before her face softened.

"Good. Well, I'll see you in the afternoon then." With that, she jogged off, leaving three rather confused genin behind.

"So, who actually is that, Sasuke?" Sakura asked from beside him, and he shrugged.

"How am I meant to know?" When Sakura made to point out their earlier meeting, he cut her off. "I know, I've met her before, but I don't actually know her. She delivered a letter from someone important to me, that's it. I don't know why Kakashi would make her deliver our missions, but it's probably because he's too lazy to come here himself."

"Yeah, you're right."

* * *

At the memorial stone, a certain silver-haired Jonin sneezed abruptly, before shrugging and continuing to pay his respects.

* * *

"Well of course he's right, my little brother isn't an idiot."

Suffice to say, all three assembled genin leapt at least a foot in the air. The look on Sasuke's face was absolutely priceless, and Hana cursed the fact that she didn't yet have the Ryo to afford a camera. Dangling from a branch in the tree they were under by her knees, Hana looked at the upside-down genin as they all turned to look at her with shock and disbelief on their faces. "You know, I was expecting a lot of reactions, and I can safely say this one takes the cake." She said with a smug smile, snapping the genin out of their reverie.

"S...so it's true Aneue? You're back?" Sasuke asked slowly, fearful that he would break whatever illusion was happening and take Hana away again.

"Yep. Though I still get to do...well, pretty much whatever I want, I'm not a missing-nin anymore, so I don't have to worry about being hunted down by Konoha for running off. Best part is I can actually take missions now, that's nice." She tugged on her scarf, tapping the scarred faceplate of metal with a sigh. "Gonna have to change this bad boy out now..."

"ANEUE!" Hana yelped when she felt Sasuke crash straight into her torso, the fact she was hanging a few feet up not mattering in the slightest to the boy, who leapt up and wrapped his arms around her. Feeling the branch she was hanging from giving way due to their weight, she tugged a leg off and slid down the bending branch, clenching her knee at the end of it and swinging herself upright as she dropped off the end of the branch.

Of course, this ended up spinning Sasuke upside-down, but Hana saw that as a positive, wrapping an arm around his torso and landing on the ground, immediately tickling his sides and making him let go of her. She was careful to catch his head and force him into a flip of his own, though he immediately stood and swivelled around, crashing into her again. With a sigh, she patted his head. "Get it all out Otouto." She murmured, running her hands through his hair and smirking at the completely bewildered looks of Sakura and Aratamete. "What? Just 'cos you got a pretty boy to replace me doesn't mean I'm staying away."

Apparently that was enough to set Sakura off. Or, at least, it got her out of her completely stunned state. "Why...what...WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"

"Jeez, watch the volume." Hana stuck a finger in her ear and tweaked it. "And to answer your question...I already kinda did. I'm here because I get to do pretty much whatever I want, and I wanted to see my cute little brother."

"Aneue! I'm older than you are!"

Patting him on the head condescendingly, Hana smirked. "There there, you'll be older than me in spirit at least." Then smirked wider as she realized just how far from the truth that statement was. "So, how's Kakashi-sensei been since I was away?" Hana took a few steps backwards so she was pressed against the tree she was just in, sliding down it and drawing the boy hugging her down with her into a seated position. "Is he still just as lazy?"

"Ugh, more." Sakura replied with a mumble. "You heard, right?" Hana tilted her head. "He isn't even bothering to come and give us our D-ranks himself. He's got Katami-chan doing it for him."

"Oh, right, her." Hana poked Sasuke on the cheek before pulling away from him. "Did she deliver my letter like she promised?" Sasuke nodded quickly. "Good. Now, I won't stay for long, you lot sound like you've got some riveting D-ranks to complete, and I got my own stuff to do, so-" Hana put a hand behind her back, one hand in front of herself, a smirk on her lips. "-want to have a quick little spar?"

Ducking, Hana avoided the sudden fist thrown her way, stepping to the side and batting Sasuke's hand to the side, before backstepping to avoid his roundhouse. "Fast, but not fast enough Otouto." She muttered as she slipped her foot into Sasuke's knee, buckling it and causing his controlled spin to send him flying. With a sigh as she watched him barrel away, she rolled her head to look at the other two, a glint in her eye. Sakura, to her credit, did attempt a charge.

_'Twist sideways to avoid palm-strike, tip head to avoid straight, lean back and to the side out of reach of follow-up kick, spot over-balanced roundhouse.'_

However, it seemed she had forgotten that Hana learnt the Konoha standard style as well, as she used the new massive opening to go into a roundhouse of her own, kicking the girl right in the 4th and 5th ribs, sending her flying with one well-placed and Chakra-anchored punt. As she watched the girl fly and then roll before slumping to the ground, she winced. Kankuro was a lot tougher than Sakura and Sasuke, and she had partly forgotten that.

"Sorry 'bout that Sakura, you okay?" A muffled groan was her response. "Cool. So, how about you sweet-cheeks, want a go?" She turned her attention to the last boy. "What's your name anyway, I didn't catch it?" She watched him roll his eyes and settle into Konoha standard, though it seemed he favoured a more frontal attack-style if his leaning was any indication.

"Aratamete." He grunted before abruptly speeding towards her, using Chakra to force his launch faster, hoping to catch Hana out.

_'Knife-hand outstretched right fist, palm-block left cross, quick palm-strike to right ear for disorientation, block feral right hook with forearm, kick side of left knee, duck inside of two-handed hammer-blow, bear-hug to suplex.'_

Rolling out from under the boy, Hana smirked. The difference in height meant that when she suplex'd him, she smashed his upper back and neck into the ground long before her own body touched down, leaving her entirely unharmed. "Well, I'd say good job, and I do mean it, but you would all probably take that as an insult, right?" Three groans met her ears. "I do mean it. I've been fighting some guy who...I dunno, he's at least Chunin-level and he can take a damn heavy hit." What she didn't mention was the fact that she wasn't using her Sharingan. But hey, the three in front of her were Genin under Kakashi, who probably hadn't taught them a single bit of Taijutsu.

She, meanwhile, had Suna's library to look through and incorporate into her own style with help from her Sharingan. The suplex at the end especially, being inspired by a move that Suna Taijutsu specialists would sometimes use by burying their opponent's heads into the ground using the sand. To pit them up against her was like putting an out-of-practice Purple belt against a Black Belt who had been consistently training. Maybe not quite as big a difference, but considering her own style relied on never taking a direct hit, to try and hit her when she knew each of the moves they were trying to use, it was a pretty fruitless ventune. To hit Hana, you had to move faster than her, catch her off-guard, or be able to do such a large attack that she simply couldn't avoid it.

The genin in front of her could do none of these three things. Maybe if Sasuke unlocked and matured his Sharingan he would be able to perceive her fast enough to counter, but then she could use her own, and they were right back where they started. Worse, actually. The Sharingan made your perception multiplicatively faster, it wasn't a flat amount everybody got placed at. According to scrolls she had read, some Sharingan-using Uchiha were able to perceive things dozens of times faster than other users. So if Hana was twice as perceptive as Sasuke, when they both activated their Sharingan Sasuke would see an immense increase in his perception, but Hana would be on another level.

"...You're mean Aneue." Sasuke's voice whined slightly, and Hana couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips as she bounded over to where he was laying down, pointedly looking away, but at the same time giving her the perfect chance. As she leapt upwards, she was momentarily surprised as he rolled to the side and swung his leg up at her, but she neatly put her own foot on his and used him as a stepping point to jump upwards again with a giggle.

"And you're a good trampoline." As she came down again, she saw his leg had moved and huffed. "Fine, spoilsport." Landing smoothly, she folded into a seated position and stared at Sasuke, picking at the grass between them and finding a good piece of flora to stick in her mouth and chew thoughtfully. It wasn't quite the same as having a piece of straw or a toothpick, but it worked well enough. "So, how've you been? I've been pretty good all things considered. Met some fun people, found a Tanuki-boy, reconciled a Bijuu and his container, and even had time for tea with the hatter."

Sasuke just huffed at her, trying to remain silent even as Hana could see his want to reply bubbling up.

"...You never have time for tea." He replied after a moment, a smile creeping onto his lips.

"Ahh, but Alice, there's always time for tea!" Hana cheered. When Sasuke made to retort, Hana had already swept him up in her arms. "It's time for tea!" She said with a cheery laugh, one Sasuke matched as they ignored the utterly bewildered looks of the rest of Team 7, too wrapped up in their own silly little game.

"...You're both utterly mad." Sakura replied deadpan, and the pair looked at her in pure surprise before Hana fell to the ground and laughed her lungs out, Sasuke joining her.

"Bwahahaha! Oh my fucking god Sakura, come-hehahehah!-come the fuck here!" She beckoned the girl between laughs. "You-hehaha!-have no fucking idea how-haha...-how perfect that was."

"I didn't tell her either Hana!" Sasuke breathed, making Hana burst into a fresh round of laughter.

"You're fucking joking?" When she saw Sasuke was completely serious, she flopped to the floor giggling. "'Mad as a hatter and twice as twisted.' You know-" She leaned up enough to point at Sakura, only to burst out laughing yet again when she saw her face. "Hehaha, you know, all the best people are utterly mad, look at the Sannin, they're all mad in their own ways!"

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Hana finally got her breathing under control. "Sasuke, you seriously never told her about the Hatter?" The boy shook his head, still laughing softly. "Wow. Okay, I need to show you those stories we got at some point Sakura, you'll probably love 'em...when I finally translate them that is." Hana said with a wince, remembering that she'd written the stories down in English and had never got around to translating them over into Japanese, preferring her native language.

It was definitely rather confusing for Hana to think about, how her new world was entirely based in a language from her old world, but to be honest, Hana was just glad it wasn't Arabic or Russian, or else she'd have stood absolutely no chance. Having visited Japan numerous times and learnt the language, Hana knew more than enough to get by, and as she grew up, she was forced to learn the rest in a hurry.

But she never forgot her original language. According to her studies, not a single person in the Elemental Nations actually knew a word of English. Not a hint of it was spoken about in the admittedly atrocious records kept within the Konoha and Uchiha libraries, which made it perfect for keeping secrets. The only ones who would know a word of it outside of Hana was Sasuke and Kurami. Sasuke had seen her read from her little written stories plenty to put spoken words to the words written on the paper, though he wouldn't have a clue about the more complicated words not found in storybooks.

And Kurami of course knew, because she watched as Hana wrote all her Fuinjutsu notes in English, making it literally impossible for anybody to steal her notes and copy them. At one point she got a bit bored and asked Hana about just what she was writing, getting a crash-course in the English language. Suffice to say, Kurami didn't ask again, not wanting to learn a new language that nobody used, but she understood at least a little of what Hana had written. "Hey, Sasuke, do you remember that time I told you about the Tooth Fairy?"

Sasuke shuddered, making Hana snicker. "Please don't."

"Aww, but Otouto, it was so funny." The glare he gave was adorable, and Hana smirked at him. "I really don't get why you hate the tooth fairy so much." Sasuke honestly seemed quite scared of that story, the idea of a fairy which would sneak into their rooms and take the teeth from under their pillows, leaving money behind. Then again, to a trained shinobi, the idea of a creature able to put their hand under your head, take your property and place property of their own under you without you being aware...okay, she could see why it made him uncomfortable.

"Please don't traumatize my team." Was all he said, with a defeated tone, knowing if Hana wanted, she'd do what she liked.

"Fine. But you're treating me to Dango later. Now, get a move on. If I read that scroll correctly, today you three have to catch sweet little Kaso-chan." One of the assembled three looked confused at the name, but Sakura leaned over and whispered, turning the look of confusion into one of horror. "Better get a move on."

"ANEUE!" Sasuke yelled, lunging forward and latching onto her arm. "Please help us out! Tora-oni actually likes you!" he begged, but Hana shot him a totally disinterested look, buffing her nails on her top and glancing away. "Aneue, if you help...well, we can...

"We'll take you to Ichiraku!" Hana raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"What's that?" She asked simply, not missing the incredibly bewildered look that Aratamete gave her. "What? Is Ichiraku an absurdly popular place or something?"

"N-no, I just...assumed you'd heard of it. So, if you don't have ramen there, where do you normally eat?" He asked, confusing Hana.

"Ramen? Bleh, too much sodium. Then again, ribs are absurdly fatty, so it's probably just as bad. Nah, I'm a ribs girl!" She said with a thumb pointed at herself. "Now's this, if I give you lot a hand catching Kaso-chan, you have to treat me to the new Akimichi place that opened up. I heard they're still running an all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet to celebrate the opening." She rubbed her hands together gleefully, missing the whispered words of Aratamete as she thought of the ribs she could scarf down.

"...But Naruto loves Ramen..."

* * *

**Mhm.**

**Aratamete has a secret of his own. This'll be hella fun to write. It shouldn't be too hard for people to put two-and-two together, and writing him into this is gonna be fucking great.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Today I found out...I don't know how to write Might Guy. He may not come across as well as I'd like...Oh well! To be honest, writing Team Guy is really fucking hard for some reason. I think I write too much RWBY stuff, so I'm used to writing those characters.**

**_Chapter 21_**

* * *

"No! It's not fucking happening!"

Hana's yell was audible even through the silencing seals Hiruzen had activated, making several of the assembled ANBU outside twitch in surprise. "And why not Hana-chan?" Hiruzen asked, a frown on his lips.

"Because I fucking said so. I'm not letting a goddamn mind-walker into my head, no way, no how, and never happening as long as I have a say-so." Hana said with a pointed glare towards Inoichi, before turning away from the pair. "I don't give a damn what you say about where I've been or what fears you have about my mental state, I'm not letting somebody into my mind, end of discussion."

With a sigh, Hiruzen looked at Inoichi, who was looking at him for direction, then giving a pointed look at Hana, who was still glaring at the wall. As the man looked directly at Hiruzen, he gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. Sighing, Inoichi darted his hand out and pressed it against the back of Hana's head, closing his eyes at the same moment.

"Saiko Denshin." He muttered.

"Wow, you really went for it, huh?" The voice startled Inoichi, who snapped his eyes open to see Hana sat in front of him within the clearly of a vaguely familiar forest, her legs crossed and her eyes staring at him. "I gave it a 50/50 chance that you'd actually do it. I mean, come on, I turned my back on two experienced ninjas! Who would do that?" Hana then stretched out her arms and leaned back, resting on her hands. "Then again, Kurami always was better at making wagers than I was. She was pretty much a hundred percent sure you'd do it. Guess I lost that bet then."

As Inoichi opened his mouth to ask what was going on, a diminutive fox hopped out from nearby and came bounding over. When he saw the nine tails swaying behind the fox, he dropped into a defensive stance, attempting to dispel his Jutsu and, for some reason, failing. _**"That's fine beloved, maybe next time." **_The fox said, jumping onto Hana's crossed legs and curling up into a ball, which Hana immediately laid her hands on and began petting, which allowed Inoichi to relax slightly, seeing as the fox was currently held beneath Hana's hands.

"Oh, right, don't bother trying to escape my mind. If you'd direct your attention downwards..." She trailed off, leading Inoichi to look down and sigh at the Fuinjutsu array he was stuck within. "You can walk out of it, I just thought it'd be funny to have you appear right in the middle of it, it'll actually work anywhere. So yeah, that'll hold you in here until I want to let you go. The best part? I read about the Psycho Mind Transmission ability, and I heard all about how you can extract days worth of memories in a few seconds, which led me to thinking. Could I perhaps utilize that somehow to extend how long I was in here for? So, thanks for being my guinea pig...uhh...my patsy? I don't know. But hey, when we get out of here I'll know whether your Jutsu worked properly in here."

Inoichi was not accustomed to being extremely confused. he didn't really want to enter the mind of the Jinchuriki, but Hiruzen had ordered it and told him in no uncertain words that one way or another he was to ensure that the girl was not being influenced by the Kyuubi, nor another village. He didn't want to invade her mind like that, especially against her will, but when the Hokage strictly ordered it, he was forced to obey, personal feelings be damned. "Now then, there's a goddamn good reason I don't want a mind-walker in here, and I'm not telling you what it is. This one fucking time, I'm letting you off, since you're pretty obviously against this whole thing. But-" Her mismatched eyes hardened, the blue becoming sharp and dark, whilst the red began subtly glowing with the familiar visage of the Sharingan. "-try that again, and I will rip your mind from your body. Look down again if you please."

Inoichi followed her command, glancing back down at the Fuinjutsu matrix.

"All it'd take is a line...hmm...there." She pointed out a particular section. "Or there, there, maybe there, and your mind would become stuck in here." Inoichi snapped his gaze up to Hana, only to find her own eyes fixed onto Kurami's closed eyelids. "In essence, you'd be sort of like Kurami-chan here." Hana tilted her head down to nuzzle the purring fox between the ears, making a smile come unbidden to Inoichi's face at the cute sight, even as the threat hung in the air. "Now then, I think that's what...three minutes in here? Shall we go and see what happened outside?"

Inoichi nodded slowly, feeling a rather disorienting pull on his Chakra as he was drawn out of Hana's mind. "Inoichi-san?" The worried voice of the Hokage snapped him back to awareness, and he turned to look at the 'Professor' with a grave look on his face.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, I am never doing that again." He said immediately, much to Hana's amusement.

"Hey, do it all you want, all that'll happen is you get stuck in that seal again. By the way 'Hokage-sama', just how long has passed since he tried that crap on me?" She saccharine sweet voice made Inoichi shudder slightly, memories of times his wife had adopted that tone when he forgot certain important things.

"...It has been about twenty seconds Hana-chan." The Hokage said after a few moments, taking a puff from his pipe. "I apologize for the deceit, but you must understand how...precarious this situation is."

"Oh, 'precarious'? That's how you're putting it? How about fucking 'paranoid'? I stayed around here out of my own free will, _Hiruzen_, don't forget that." The next few moments were extremely tense for the occupant of the room who didn't have a Kage-level amount of Chakra to intimidate his opponents with, as the two squared off against each other. "I can leave at any fucking moment. I'd like to remain, but I don't need to. You should have heard by now, Suna are perfectly happy to have me. To be perfectly fucking honest, as long as I didn't go around dancing and proclaiming Minato as my father, I reckon even Iwagakure would take me."

The eyes of the two Shinobi widened when Hana said that, though Hiruzen's quickly turned cold. "You would abandon us just like that?"

"Oh don't even try to play that card. You were more than willing to betray my trust and try to invade my mind against my will." Hana sighed, waving a hand. "Whatever, let's just get on with this. So, technically I'm a genin still, aye?" Hiruzen nodded. "And I have to take a certain number of missions before I can be considered eligible for Chunin. Alright, there any C-ranks I can take?"

Leaning forward, Hiruzen steeped his hands and rested his chin atop them. "There are, but there's a condition. Oh, Inoichi, you may go now." Hana raised an eyebrow, ignoring Inoichi as he quickly bowed out of the room. "You won't be going alone."

"Huh, you know I was actually gonna ask if you'd send me with someone." Yawning, Hana waved her arm about a bit. "Fact is, I still haven't actually killed someone, and I'm honestly a bit worried I'll falter for it. Hopefully, it won't be so bad, but I don't want to be vulnerable during that first time." Hana admitted with a shrug. "So, who did you want to send?"

Rubbing his chin, the Kage pulled a scroll from his desk and looked it over once before nodding and placing it before Hana. "Team Guy has a few C-ranks under their belts, and their Jonin-sensei, Might Guy, has been asking for another mission suitable for his team. If you'd like, you can tag along and we can give them a slightly harder mission than usual. Nothing severe, in fact, I have one picked out already but was lacking a team to give it to." He drew out another scroll and handed it to Hana.

"Huh, that looks a bit boring. Are merchants really that paranoid?" Hana asked, and saw the grim line Hiruzen's lips were set into.

"Yes, they like to take up our time with a lot of escort requests. However, the route this merchant must go on is highly likely to run through an area inhabited by bandits, leading to a very likely encounter." Hana nodded once, glancing over the scroll again. "This way, you would be able to get direct combat experience and perhaps take a life, which while something to never be relished, should not be shunned."

"You don't have to tell me. I don't want to freeze up after I dig a Kunai into someone's vertebrae and watch them die. Doing this mission, hopefully, if I do freeze up Team Guy can cover for me. So where do they normally hang out? I'll go deliver the scroll before meet and greeting 'em."

Taking another puff from his pipe, which Hana waved away with a fake cough, Hiruzen waited a few moments to respond. "The Seventh Training Ground is their typical place of training, though right now if I recall correctly they are on a D-rank to catch Tora."

"I don't get that Hokage-sama, why do people fear Tora-chan so much? She's just the friendliest cat I've met here, seriously." She exclaimed, watching as Hiruzen shuddered slightly, memories of the demon-cat flashing through his mind like an old war movie.

"Only for you Hana-chan...only for you..."

* * *

"Yosh! If I don't convince you to spar today I shall do a hundred laps around Konoha blindfolded!"

Hearing a rather...enthusiastic challenge being yelled nearby, Hana was sufficiently intrigued. Hopping from one roof to the next, Hana came to a stop above a rather peculiar scene. A genin in a green bodysuit with orange legwarmers was attempting to...'motivate' his Hyuuga teammate into a spar, whilst presumably their third teammate, a girl with Chinese-style buns on her head, just looked on with exasperation.

Shaking her head at the amusing sight, Hana passed them by, catching the eye of the girl for a second as she jumped across the building gap and giving her a little smile, which she returned tiredly before getting back to trying to drag her team into something. Continuing her hopping on the rooftops, lovingly named the Ninja Express, Hana quickly came across the Training area and bar a few random Genin doing their own training in secluded corners, there was no sign of this Might Guy person.

When asked, all Hiruzen said was that he was...'enthusiastic', like that meant anything.

Settling in to wait, Hana walked up a tree and dangled from her knees on a branch, flipping around occasionally and generally acting a lot like a monkey. Something about not using Chakra to stay in the tree, relying on her own body, it reminded her of her old world, and it could also be said that she was training in case she ran out of Chakra.

Of course, with as much of a Chakra machine as she was thanks to Kurami, the chances she would ever suffer Chakra exhaustion were probably nil, but it never hurt to be prepared. After a minute or two, Hana pulled her guitar out, playing a few quiet songs and passing the time casually. She entertained the idea of going into her seal and doing some Fuinjutsu, but it'd be bad to just randomly appear when Guy and his team showed up.

"Oh, hey, it's you again." The voice snapped Hana from her playing, and she smiled when she raised her head to see the team from earlier walking towards the tree she was dangling from.

"Yo. Oh, hang the fuck on, are you lot Team Guy?" Hana asked, smirking when the bodysuit-wearing boy nodded emphatically. "Oh, great. Welp, I'm Hana, I'll be tagging along for your next mission, which should be arriving..." Hana waited a few moments, confusing the Genin. "...Now." Her word was matched by the spontaneous arrival of Might Guy, clad in a scarily similar jumpsuit to the black-haired boy.

"Ahh, you're already here! It appears I have lost my bet. No matter!" Hana merely kept playing her guitar as she hung. "Hmm, a very peculiar position, one to which you can truly appreciate the Springtime of your Youth!" Hana just gave the man a deadpan look.

"Eh?" She said simply, before twitching her legs and dropping to the floor, simultaneously re-sealing her guitar and flipping over to land on her feet. "Right, well, I hope they explained what's going on at the mission office Guy-san?"

The man gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Correct young flower!" Hana's eye twitched. "But first, I would like to see exactly how you match up. How does it sound, you versus our very own Lee-kun?" Hana just shrugged.

"Whatever. So...what's the rules?" She asked, rolling her shoulders.

"Anything goes, be it Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu or any other tricks you may have. This is supposed to measure you against my very own team, so please, do not hold back. Lee-kun, you must also not hold back, even against a girl, for that may come to harm you in future."

"Hai, Guy-sensei!" The bodysuit-wearing kid, Lee presumably, slipped into the Strong Fist style of Taijutsu, making Hana smirk. Among the endless scrolls of the Uchiha library were notes focused on that style of Taijutsu, one focused on external damage and broken bones, a rather amusing contrast to the style the Hyuuga beside him would use with the Gentle Fist. Slipping into her own unique style, she felt rather satisfied when the boy looked a little worried.

"Don't worry, it's my own style." Was all she said, watching the boy as he took in her style and adjusted himself to compensate, preparing to attack rather than defend as his stance had dictated. "Well, shall we?" She said with a glance towards Guy, who was also observing her.

"Okay. Three, two, one, BEGIN!" He yelled, and Lee immediately bolted forwards towards her, reaching an arm back and packing a lot of power behind it, ready to decide the fight with his first blow...if it hit that was. Shifting her foot slightly to the side, she waited until the optimal moment before twisting her entire body practically around his outstretched fist, ending up facing his arm from the side and putting her in the perfect place to elbow his face.

The boy was fast enough to see and attempt to stop this with his other hand, but with his right arm still extended he had to turn and attempt to lift his heft arm over his right, which would leave hi min an awkward position. In a split second he decided on a lunge to the side, avoiding her elbow at the cost of breaking off his attack. She let him go, slipping back into her beginning stance and sighing.

"Hmm, I see." She heard from Guy. "Lee, you can take your weights off." When the boy snapped his head to look at Guy, Hana frowned. Debating whether or not to stop him before he could remove said weights, Hana decided that as it was a friendly skill-testing spar, she could allow it, and folded her arms. "I'll allow it this once."

As she watched the boy lift his leg warmers and reveal weights, Hana's eyes widened. Those things had some nasty seals on them! And yes, as they were dropped and hit the floor, they each generated a large amount of dust, leaving craters where they landed. "Yeesh, I've heard of strength training, but that's a bit much isn't it?"

"Ahh, but you see Hana-chan, when you train your body to such a degree, you too would be able to do such things!" Guy said with a grin, his teeth quite literally glinting, making Hana cringe.

"Right, right. Well, shall we continue?" She said as she unfolded her arms. A second later, pain. There was pain blossoming across her cheek. Oh, and she was in mid-air. When did that happen? Blinking, Hana saw a flash of green for a moment and cursed, activating her Sharingan and watching the world slow down. With her eye activated, she could track the boy as he zipped around like a child who drank a thousand energy drinks and then took cocaine.

But, just because she could see him, it did not mean she could physically move fast enough to stop him, being forced to watch as his fist flew towards her mid-section, impacting and sending her flying again. "Grr, fine." Flipping through hand-seals, Hana watched with a smirk as she saw Lee's eyes widen, and he tried to stop her before she could use her Jutsu.

Unfortunately for him, he was too slow, and Hana took a breath before yelling out. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She exhaled in a stream, changing the Great Fireball into a long and all-encompassing wave of flames, washing over Lee's position and making him yelp in surprise. She held the Jutsu for a few seconds, releasing it and looking at the boy, only to see him a fair ways back, slightly singed but not too damaged by her attack. "Huh, damn."

With a sigh, Hana pulled a scroll from her bag, unsealing her Naginata and taking a low guard. Before the pair could re-engage, Guy called an end to the fight. "Okay, that's enough. Hana-chan, you are more than powerful enough to join us on this Youthful venture! And Lee-kun, you held your own against the Sharingan, a truly Youthful display!"

"Guy-sensei!" The boy cheered, and the two repeated each others name, a sunset appearing behind them. Before any more crimes against her eyes could be committed, Hana looked away, flexing her Chakra and muttering.

"Kai." She said softly, dispelling the illusion, resealing her Naginata and rolling her eyes when the Chinese-bun girl looked at the scroll with longing. "Wanna see it?" The girl nodded ferociously, and Hana sighed as she tossed the scroll over to the girl, watching her unseal the Naginata and coo over it, running her fingers all across the shaft, the edge, the tip, every part she could get a hold of. It was a strange mix of erotic and disturbing, so Hana turned to look at the stoic last member of the team, a Hyuuga based on his eyes, though not one Hana could actually remember from her time in class. "So, how 'bout you? Got a secret guitar fetish?" She said with a jerk of the head towards the other girl, who had migrated to sitting on the floor.

"Hmph. Fate has decreed we shall take part in this mission together." The boy said in a seriously aggravating tone, making Hana glare at him. "You should be fine with our current mission, these eyes of mine have shown me that."

"Right, whatever." Hana said, folding her arms up. "So fate huh? What's that all about? I mean, I decreed that I'd come on this mission just an hour ago when taking to the Hokage. Me, not fate."

"It was fate that you were there to speak with Hokage-sama and receive this mission, just as it is fate that you fought Rock Lee to a...sufficient degree."

Hana huffed. "I get it now. Well, you're hopeless. Maybe if you looked like a Tanuki I'd bother, but you seriously need to get that stick out of your ass in any case." Hana was going to say more, but it seemed the leader to team Guy had finished his manly embrace with his student and was now focused on the rest of his team. "Right, so I already know what we're doing, can I presume you'll talk this lot through it and we can meet up at the south gate?"

"Hmm, most unyouthful." He responded with, making Hana roll her eyes. "Perhaps we could spent this time getting to know one another?"

"Fine. Well, I'm Nanashi Hana, I'm good at Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, Fuinjutsu and some Ninjutsu. I suck at Genjutsu mostly because I don't have time to work on it. I like barbecue ribs and cute animals. I hate assholes, people doing things against my wishes, and people who don't like foxes. I have an opinion on each of the people assembled, which is that you-" She pointed at the Hyuuga. "-are an asshole. You-" She moved on and ignored his glare, aiming at the Chinese-bun girl. "-are alright but a bit introverted and like weapons. You-" She pointed her finger at Lee. "-are seriously strong and a bit unique in a good way. And finally, you-" She turned her finger towards Guy, who looked a bit surprised. "-seriously need to show me what those weights are." She said with a smirk.

"Well, I'm sure I can accommodate your youthfulness!"

* * *

**Too. Much. Youthfulness!**

**Bleh. I can't write team Guy. Seriously. I don't understand Neji at all, I really don't. And Lee is...nice enough I guess. I reckon Tenten is my favourite, and thus is the one Hana is going to be closest with. Mostly because she knows how to use so many different weapons, and one of them is...well, take a bloody guess =P.**

**Finally though, Hana is going to get into a proper fight at some point soon.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Wow.**

**I'm...a bit dazed right now actually. I'd been enjoying my way through a story, only to find out the author had died while writing the story, and even though I never knew her, learning that...it hurt.**

**A bit random and emotional, but to those of you who have lost loved ones, know that I hope they remain forever in your hearts and minds with cherished and hopefully hilariously embarrassing memories. On that note, I plan to finally, after 3 years of estrangement, get back into touch with my brother. I still hold a bit of anger over being entirely forgotten about him when he got married, to the point where I had to learn he was married to his childhood sweetheart through facebook, but whatever.**

**I just realized I haven't seen my beautifully adorable niece and nephew for three years either...Yeah, it's past time I speak with them again, and I hope some of you might take these words to heart and mend some bridges with your own loved ones. Me, I need to go find suitable gifts for them.**

**I'm emotional today, sue me.**

_**Chapter 22**_

* * *

"...Fucking sunlight." Hana grumbled as the light streamed into her room and lit it all up, forcing her to either wake up, or endure the brightness for another hour of sleep in her bed.

Her bed. Hers. She honestly thought she wasn't going to be able to ever sleep in that bed, in that room, in the apartment she shared with Sasuke, ever again. To be honest, she found her seal to be a far superior place to sleep since Kurami was in there, but she had to take just this one night to enjoy her bed. Huh, maybe she could seal it in a scroll and bring it to the seal with her, that'd be nice, though it'd mean Kurami would have to remain fox-sized...

With a sigh, Hana sat up, casting her covers off and stretching, her eyes bleary as she gazed about the untouched room. The stuff she'd left lying about when she was last there was still in the exact same places. The Dango stick she'd kept and chewed on months ago, then put on her dresser and forgot to throw away. The few dozen sheaves of random notes strewn about on her desk, slightly mussed up from being repeatedly searched through, but otherwise all there. Even the few pebbles on her nightstand she found and brought home one day, random little things that just told her she was home. That she was safe there.

It looked perfect, but Hana knew they would have searched it thoroughly.

As she let out an absolutely jaw-breaking yawn, Hana twisted off her bed, padding her feet onto the cold wooden floor with a grimace before standing up, doing a full-body stretch and cracking her fingers above her head. As she walked towards the bathroom, she tugged off the clothes she was wearing during the night, grabbing a toothbrush on the way past and kicking on the shower.

The second the relatively loud shower kicked on, she heard a startled yelp from elsewhere in the apartment and snickered to herself. She didn't actually tell Sasuke she was moving back in, she just used a Hiraishin and appeared on the same seal as before, dropping onto her bed with no fanfare and making nary a sound. Apparently he didn't hear her or sense her considering his reaction, so the shower was the first indication that someone else was even in the apartment.

As she heard him dart into her room, she, without looking away from the showerhead, hooked a finger into a Kunai she'd left on the sink beside her and, after waiting a few seconds, flung it at the door. The Kunai smacked into the wood a half-second after Sasuke began opening it and wedged the blade between the door and the frame. "Come in here, and I'll put one between your legs, Otouto." Hana then hummed. "And yes, I'm back, before you ask. Where the fuck else am I gonna live in Konoha? Besides, I'm still technically paying for half this place, unless you spent all that D-rank cash on Dango?" Hana leaned back around the shower-curtain to look at the door, only to see a brief glimpse of black hair as her brother fled her bedroom.

Shrugging, she quickly lathered herself with shower gel, relishing in the feeling of the perfectly-heated water. She had gone to a bathhouse in Sunagakure, but it just didn't have anything on a proper shower in your own bathroom, with the shower already set to your perfect temperature. Tugging her hair around, Hana toyed with it as she laid into it with conditioner, lamenting the lesson she learned years ago after she tried to grow her hair out to an unreasonable length, only for Fugaku to tug on it suddenly during a spar.

Apparently only experienced Kunoichi were good enough to have long hair, using it as a sign that they could afford such a big weakness, because they were skilled enough to avoid having it used against them. At the time, Hana wasn't good enough, and while she was damn good now, she wasn't confident that she could keep her hair away from her opponents. So, she settled for her shoulder-length hair, too short to easily be grabbed, but not short enough that it made her look like a tomboy.

Dipping her head back under the stream of water, Hana let her mind wander away from the routine task of washing off all the conditioner and body wash, thinking about random things, like what her seal project needed, what the C-rank mission later that day would actually turn out like, why her brother thought he was so sneaky trying to get a look into the bathroom

She said the last one out-loud, hearing another startled yelp. Unlike before, however, he didn't immediately run off. "Otouto, if you peek on me, I promise I'll put a Kunai in your private parts and a still-fanged tarantula in your bed." When he didn't leg it, Hana hummed. "Right, since you haven't run off, you want somethin'?" She asked casually, running a finger along one of her few scars.

"I-it's really you, right Aneue?" He asked, making Hana roll her eyes, though he couldn't see it.

"No, it's the Christmas fairy. If I weren't me, I wouldn't answer that bloody question honestly. Sasuke, seriously, what's eating you?" She washed the last little slips of wash from her body and turned the shower off, yanking down a towel and getting to work, her ears trained towards the door as Sasuke presumably fought to try and say what he wanted.

With a sigh, she stepped out of the shower, twitching her toes on the warm -_Fuinjutsu was a beautiful thing- _and furry rug-thing she'd put in there. Wrapping the towel around her upper body and checking to make sure it actually covered her, she reached over and yanked the Kunai out of the doorframe, swinging the door open to look at her brother. "Seriously Sasuke, what is going on? Is my being here really that surprising?"

"No." He mumbled after a few moments, sticking his arms out and hugging Hana. "I just...I didn't think you'd be back..." He admitted after a few more moments.

With a quick tousle of his hair, Hana planted a gentle hiss on the crown of his head. "Don't worry. Hopefully this whole thing will stick and I won't have to go anywhere. I mean, I'm going to be travelling around to new places still, but I'll always come back. I promise." She then smirked. "That reminds me, I should have really done this ages ago."

When Sasuke looked up to her in confusion, Hana patted her abdomen. "You remember that seal we found on me that one time?" The boy nodded slowly. "Well, I kinda kept a secret from ya about it." He scrunched up his face in irritation, but Hana quickly ducked down and looked him in the eyes. "Hey, don't be like that. Now, gimme just a sec..." Hana unwrapped Sasuke's arms from around her and stepped out of the bathroom, hobbling over to her desk with a hand on her towel and snatching up a seemingly innocuous seal, a piece of sealing scroll similar in size to a standard explosive tag, before darting back over to Sasuke with a smile.

"Uhh, Onee-chan, what's-" Sasuke started to say, but Hana just poked him on the forehead with the seal, leaving it dangling over his face. "-that?"

"'That', my dear otouto, is a seal I specially made for this exact situation." Tugging gently on her seal with her chakra to form one half of a chakra bridge, Hana snapped a hand out to rest on the seal adorning Sasuke's head, activating the Chakra hidden within the twists and lines of the ink. In an instant, Hana felt the same swirling sensation of entering her seal, and then she was stood in the imitation of the training ground. With a smirk, she watched as Sasuke's face turned a shade of green and he smacked a hand atop his mouth. "Sorry about that, it's a bit disorienting I take it?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but that was the wrong thing to do, as the remnants of last nights dinner came back up, which was rather disgusting, seeing mostly-digested food coming up. It wasn't as bad as it could be, as the Academy had slowly and carefully acclimatized the students to being less revulsed by certain things, but it wasn't pleasant in sight or smell. "There there." Hana patted is back as he dry-retched, regretting not bringing her scroll-pouch with her. "I'd offer water if I had it. Sorry otouto." She said again.

"Now then..." She turned away from the boy when he looked up at her, gazing around the forest. "Come on out precious, you remember him. You know he won't do anything to you...I'd never let that happen." Hana said gently, her voice carrying but remaining soft. Sasuke followed her gaze towards a denser thicket of bushes, taking a wary step back as he saw them shifting about, unconsciously hiding slightly behind his sister.

Poking her head out first, Hana smiled as she saw Kurami, feeling Sasuke stiffen a moment before he relaxed and she glanced at him, only to see him staring at Kurami with a confused gaze. "A...a fox?" He asked, looking away from Kurami, who was still mostly hidden by bushes, and looking up at Hana. "The seal has a fox inside of it?"

"Yep. But...not just any fox." She knelt down, putting her arm out. "Come on Kurami-chan, say hello. Please." She added, watching as the fox fought her fear to come out of the bushes, a startled gasp emerging from Sasuke's lips when she fully emerged, her nine tails gently swaying, betraying her trepidation. A few short steps, and Hana shifted forward, prompting Kurami to leap at her, landing at her chest and burying her face against her. "Please don't knock the towel off Kurami-chan." Hana said with a giggle, one arm holding the fox up as the other pet her head, and Hana turned to Sasuke with a bright smile. "Sasuke-kun, meet Kurami-chan. Call her the Kyuubi and I swear I'll put a spoonful of wasabi in your tomatoes."

Said boy was still in a state of shock staring at Kurami. Or rather, staring at her tails, several of which were unconsciously wrapped around Hana, almost as if claiming her. "H-hello." The fox said quietly, peeking out from under Hana's hand slightly to properly look at the boy for the first time. Wide onyx eyes stared back into equally-widened red eyes, slitted black irises gazing out at him.

"Hi." Sasuke said back dumbly, staring at the fox before glancing up to see his sister smiling at the pair of them.

Reaching a hand slowly, Hana took hold of Sasuke's own hand, drawing him into a crouch beside her and slowly planting his hand atop Kurami's head. As his hand brushed the fur between her ears, Kurami closed her eyes, leaving Hana to smile wider. Letting go of his hand, Hana watched as he ever so slowly brushed his fingers across the top of the foxes head, forcing Hana to suppress a squeal at how cute the sight was.

"She's a part of the reason why I left." Hana intoned quietly, moving her own hand to rest on Kurami's back, holding her up while she shifted her legs slowly, careful to not make her impossibly-wrapped towel fall off when she sat down. "Sasuke-kun, the day I left...I messed something up. I wanted to give Kurami-chan a friend, so I tried to put a fox into the seal with her. Short-sighted and stupid of me, but hey, I tried it. As you can see-" She waved a hand around the forest. "-theres nothing else here, but while it failed...there were some 'small' side-effects."

Before Sasuke could question it, Hana leaned back so Kurami's weight was resting on her before putting her hands into a seal and dispelling the Henge on her body, revealing her ears and tail. "Ta-da?" She said sheepishly, her tails swaying about behind her with her ears twitching about a little on her head. Reaching slowly, Sasuke gently poked the ear closest to her, leading Hana to roll her eyes. "They're real otouto. Don't ask me exactly how it happened. Maybe because I was just trying to transfer the Chakra of the fox, and Kurami's Chakra was leaking through the seal slightly, meshing within my own coils and changing me?" She shrugged. "I dunno, all I know is these appeared, and Kakashi saw them, probably with a Sharingan, and I got caught and fled the village."

Hana then crossed her arms, which was a little awkward since she still had one arm full of fox, but she managed. "It isn't the only reason, but I'm not telling you that. Sooo, whaddaya think?" Sasuke frowned for a moment before looking straight into her eyes. Without warning he wrapped his arms around Hana, subsequently giving both of them a hug.

"I don't care. Y-you're Aneue. You...you looked after me when I-itachi...When he did those things, even though he hurt you as well. You stood up to the Hokage himself when he tried...he tried to send me back into that place." He murmured the last few words. Slowly, Hana wrapped an arm around him, rubbing his back and chuckling softly.

"Yeah, I kinda did, didn't I?" She snorted. "Not gonna apologize for it, that was a fuckin' terrible idea." She said carelessly. "I mean really, we both saw what was in there, and he though it'd be a great idea to make you live in those walls again? The man might be a god of Shinobi in terms of power, but he's a fucking idiot when it comes to people." Feeling Kurami nudge her with her nose, Hana looked down to see the rather wide eyes of Sasuke. "What?"

"Aneue, when did you become such a...uhh..."

"Potty-mouth?" Kurami helpfully chimed in, and Sasuke nodded, giving the fox a small but still ever-so-bright smile.

"Yeah, potty-mouth." He chirped, looking up at her.

Rubbing the back of her head, Hana shrugged. "It uhh...kinda slipped out? I kept it under control when around you, but I guess I've been pretty damn lax with my words the past few months. I mean, not having to watch what I say for so long...hmm, maybe I should tone it back? Nah, you're a Genin, if you cant take me swearing a bit, you wouldn't be ready for an actual fight." Hana said with a shrug. "What do you think Kurami-chan?"

Said fox just yawned. "I don't know Hana-chan, maybe it's a good idea? That way when an enemy swears, he won't get surprised?" She quietly added, garnering a nuzzle from Hana in response.

"Sounds good to me precious." Hana then chuckled softly. "So, I think that's enough deep and revealing...reveals when I'm in a towel. I do actually have a mission with Guy's team today, so..." With that, Hana planted a gentle kiss atop Kurami's head, lingering a moment before sighing and reverently laying the fox down on the ground. As the fox turned around, Kurami stepped back towards her and raised her head slightly, allowing Hana to plant a kiss on her lips before she and Sasuke left the seal. When she looked at him, it seemed he was confused, and Hana realized her final action might have been a bit odd to him.

"Oh right, she's also kinda my lover..." She said with a shrug.

* * *

"Ahh, you are not on time, that is most unyouthful! By chance have you already fallen sway to my eternal rival's hip and cool ways?"

Rubbing an eye, Hana gave Guy a rather tired look. "Morning Guy. I wouldn't have been late if it weren't for my brother. I told him something and he wanted to know stuff about it, which lead to more questions, and I had to...Shunshin to get away from him." She carefully omitted that she actually used the Hiraishin. Kakashi and Hiruzen saw her teleport, but since they probably didn't spread that knowledge around, she had to be careful to whom she admitted her usage of the Hiraishin to.

Spotting Tenten's rather unique hairstyle, Hana waved at Guy and hopped over to the girl, poking her on the shoulder and making her jump. "Wha-oh, uh, hi Hana." She said quickly, making Hana quirk an eyebrow.

"Hi. Did I make you jump?" She asked with a smirk, making the girl frown and look away. "Hey, don't worry about it, I make a lot of people jump. I don't mean to move quietly, I just kinda...do? I dunno, I guess all that training came in handy, moving like a...fox...yeah." Hana trailed away, lost in her own world for a few moments before re-focusing. "Right, Tenten, a question if you will. Do you know anyone who can train me in using my Naginata? The only trainer I know of used a Bo staff, not a Naginata, so...yeah."

Tenten looked as though Hana was dangling a lifetime supply of Dango in front of her face or something. "OhmygodYES!" She chirped immediately, lunging for Hana who just side-stepped her. "Yes please, oh thankyouthankyou!" She yelled, trying to hug Hana, who was rather confused.

"Uhh...Tenten, why thank me? I'm the one asking for training here...?"

Tenten did look a little embarrassed, but she quickly recovered. "Yeah, but to be recognised as a Master Bukijutsu practitioner you have to have trained a student to the point of proficiency with their weapon, or in my case 'weapons'. So if I train you to the point where an examiner marks you down as a pass for proficiency, I get regarded as a Master. That means I can open my own weapon shop, I can train official students...oh THANKYOU!" She yelled, trying to hug Hana again, who begrudgingly let her, wrapping an arm around and patting her back.

"That's fine. I get the better deal out of this in my opinion. So, want to start right now? We can talk about it all when we're on the road, and I don't think the boys over there want to talk about weapons." Lee looked a bit sheepish as he shook his head, and the asshole-sorry, 'Hyuuga'- just looked away with a sneer. "Oh, right. I asked, and the Hokage said using this is fine, so-" Hana pushed some Chakra to her eye, bringing her triple-tomoed Sharingan into existence. "If you know many Katas for the Naginata, if you just perform them once I'll be able to remember them perfectly. Then when I do my own practice, I'll know immediately if I'm moving incorrectly."

Out of all the reactions she saw, the most hilarious was definitely the Hyuuga's. He'd stopped mid-step and was openly and unabashedly gawking at her. Guy presumably had already been told, and he knew Kakashi, so he was vaguely used to seeing the Sharingan. Lee looked pretty surprised and Tenten was staring at her, but Hyuuga-boy just took the biscuit. "You..." He started saying.

"Me?" Hana asked, tilting her head. "What? You mad now that you aren't the only Dojutsu user in the team?" She said with a smirk.

"Hmph."

* * *

**Hooray, Hana now has a teacher in Tenten.**

**I love Tenten. I mean, she's not my favourite Naruto character, that goes to...hmm...I was gonna say Minato, because my god look at him, he's adorable, but then I thought Kakashi is awesome, but Kurenai is also fucking awesome - I mostly love her red eyes, seriously-, then again Genma...Oh, Tobirama...**

**There are too many. I love them all. I'm gonna just say Tobi. Why? Because Tobi's a good boy. I just want to pat his head and tell him it'll all be okay, but I get the feeling he'd just avoid my hand with Kamui...yep, it's decided, Hana is going to try and pat Tobi on the head.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Just found out I very likely have ADHD...Huh.**

**Actually explains a lot of my childhood, and the fact I seem to keep starting new stories like they were popping out of a Pez Dispenser. I mean, I have an abysmal short-term memory, I lose stuff constantly, get easily distracted, suck at organizing stuff, need to be told instructions at least a few times for it to set in, I fidget a lot, and more.**

**Here's the real fucking kicker though. Near my old home there was this big hill. Like, a 45 degree angle grass slope about 15 foot tall, and it ended with a 2 foot drop onto pavement, line with bricks. I used to jump from the top of that hill, fall at least a dozen foot and slide on the grass, landing with my feet against the little brick wall at the end, sometimes sliding right over it if I jumped at certain spots and onto the pavement. If I put too much strength into my jump, I'd land on brick and pavement from a considerable height. I never actually jumped too hard, but it was still really dangerous.**

**And I never fucking once thought it was a bad idea that could seriously hurt me. Literally no sense of danger. So yeah...probably ADHD.**

_**Chapter 23**_

* * *

"That is so..."

"Bullshit?" Hana helpfully added with a grin, leading Tenten to sigh and nod. "Yeah, it kinda is. Being able to remember stuff so easily is...weird. I think of it kinda like two separate pools of memory. One is normal stuff, I forget things and can't recall it easily and instantly. On the other hand, when I look at stuff with this thing-" She waved a hand at her eye, the three tomoe slowly swimming in circles. "-it's like a photographic memory. I can recall it all easily and perfectly. But it isn't retroactive, so stuff I see without the Sharingan, or things from before I ever had it, I can't recall anywhere near as well. Hence the allusion to two pools."

Hana glanced away from her weapon to look at Tenten, worried she might have lost the girl. To her relief, she simply looked thoughtful. "So why don't you just keep it permanently activated, surely it'd be best if you could always recall everything that happened to you?" Hana just shook her head.

"No, it uses Chakra. Imagine if Neji over there-" The boy turned his head when he heard his name, but after seeing that the girls weren't trying to get his attention, huffed and looked away again. "-walked around with his Byakugan activated permanently. I have a fuck-ton of Chakra, but even I can't keep my eye active permanently, because it isn't about how much you have, it's the regeneration rate. Maybe in the future, my Chakra coils will be large enough that the fill-rate will get higher than the drainage rate for the Sharingan, but as it is right now my eye simply uses up too much Chakra to be sustained." Hana said with a nonchalant shrug, twirling her Naginata around and sighing.

It was a bit of a lie. If Kurami let some of her Chakra slip into Hana's coils, because of how quickly the fox regenerated Chakra she'd be able to keep the Sharingan on permanently. But she was still keeping it somewhat under wraps. No doubt the council would push for Hiruzen to force her into a more orthodox role in the village, all the better to keep an eye on her. As it was, they didn't know about her Sharingan, so all they'd care about is the fact that she was a Jinchuriki.

Hiruzen had, after some prodding, informed her that outside of himself and Kakashi, the only people to know about her Jinchuriki status were his advisors, the ninja and civilians who made up the Konoha Council, and his own student Jiraiya. When she asked about the last one, the man clammed up and refused to tell her about him, which was rather infuriating. It was clear there was a reason, the man just didn't seem to want to share that knowledge.

On the other hand, she was thankful that the man had never told them about her Sharingan, since they'd likely start pushing for her to be used in an attempt to create powerful Shinobi owing to her Uzumaki heritage being apparently mixed with Uchiha if her eye was any indication. She still wasn't quite sure just why she'd uncovered the Sharingan, but to be honest her new world seemed to like refusing to make total sense all the time, the abilities of her eye being just one example.

She wasn't even sure if any children she had would be able to unlock the Sharingan, since she wasn't meant to be in her new world to begin with. She was meant to be a bloody smear on the ground. Just the memory was enough to make her shudder. It seemed that while the Sharingan wasn't retroactive, constantly recalling memories had improved her mind, so she could still remember things that happened over a decade ago quite easily. It was strange, but Hana just shrugged and chalked it up to, again, her new world being weird.

Settling her feet, she swung her Naginata again horizontally, hearing the thrumming sound of the blade as it sliced through the air cleanly. She swiftly drew the weapon back and thrusted it forward, twisting the shaft as she dipped it down slightly and viciously bringing the blade into an upwards swing over her shoulder, striking with the rear end of the weapon using the momentum of the upswing, before bringing the blade above her head down in a long swing, stopping it just before it hit the ground. The entire combination took about two seconds from initial swing to final blow, with her eye watching each motion carefully for the minute little things she could do to speed the action up or add more strength to the blow.

Tenten had shown her quite a few little Katas she could do with the weapon, and she mainly focused on the ones that granted her overwhelming speed. Hana quite liked the idea of being incredibly fast, something she probably got from her father, as it meant she couldn't be hit. It didn't matter if her blow wasn't very strong when each blow left a small cut and she could strike an opponent and avoid their retaliation. If she wasn't being threatened, the fight was pretty much already won.

Of course, that meant if she ran into an opponent faster than her, she'd be put in a major disadvantage, but she found that unlikely. Their mission was a middle C-Rank, escorting some no-name merchant and his wares across the Land of Fire to a border town, then remaining in the town for a single day as he peddled his wares before escorting him back. The route selected was fast but dangerous, as bandits frequently tried their luck with ambushing convoys. This lead to many caravans hiring a Shinobi to escort them, but it seems the bandits in the region were as stupid as a Bethesda raider, still trying to assault the convoys and failing miserably.

It was a rather perfect way for Hana to get some live combat experience within a relatively safe environment, since if anything went wrong, Might Guy was a very well-known Jonin, and would be able to cover for her.

Hopefully, she wouldn't need covering at all.

* * *

_'Swing right, sidestep with returning thrust, twist blade and swing to ground, plant blade and jump over opponent, swing down in air, land and spin blade around defensively, block return thrust, pole-vault to dropkick.'_

As she landed from her kick, Hana went through her actions in her mind, trying to make sure she was actually being efficient with her attacks. She would have preferred to actually be sparring with Tenten or Lee, or even Neji if she absolutely had to, but they were busy doing their own training, so Hana was left to her own devices, being splashed with large amounts of water every now and again as Lee inevitably fell into the river again.

What was their training? They were water-walking. Seriously. Hana knew how to water-walk since she was six years old, wall-walking at five. Granted, she was a special case in several ways, but it baffled her that they didn't even know how to water-walk. Neji seemed to be the most proficient at it, but that was probably because he was raised in a clan like her and trained early. Lee was having the worst time with it, barely able to maintain his position on the water and falling in repeatedly. According to Guy when asked, Lee had no aptitude for Shape or Nature manipulation, leaving him basically useless when it came to Ninjutsu.

However, he could still mould Chakra, which meant he could still walk on walls after practising, the only reason he was actually allowed to even be a Shinobi. However, since he didn't use Chakra often, he was naturally inferior to those like Tenten and Neji, who used Chakra regularly. But, his determination was shining through, as every time he emerged from the water, he would try again, lasting just a little longer each time.

Tenten was in the middle. She didn't have great control over her Chakra, but she had enough to maintain her position at least semi-regularly. It didn't help that Lee's constant falling in created waves that knocked her about, but it was a good way to imitate how water would be during a fight, providing accidentally helpful training.

Guy did offer for Hana to join them in their...'Youthful training session!', but when she casually walked across the river and pulled her Naginata out on the other side with a yawn, unintentionally sparking Lee's determination to master the task, he left her to her Katas, giving her a wide smile and a thumbs up, yelling something about how her 'Flames of youth burned brightly!' He was a bit weird, but it seemed every Jonin-sensei she'd met was at least a little bit insane.

Planting her Naginata firmly in front of herself, Hana went through her Kata again, and again, and continued with her practice, whirling her blade around herself like a tornado. The weapon was, to put it simply, a work of perfect art for Hana. It covered her lack of reach with her hands neatly, it was heavy enough to make blocking it difficult when a little momentum is behind the swing, but still light enough for Hana to wield it with ease.

Her Sharingan helped a heck of a lot, but it was still down to Hana to actually gain the muscle memory necessary to use the weapon correctly. Having to rely on Katas she saw but never practised herself was far inferior to directly performing those actions, comparing them to the Kata, then adjusting as necessary and repeating. Using her weapon as a pole to vault with was a very unorthodox method, but if it was used correctly, it'd mean she could strike from the front, the top, then the rear in quick succession. The whirl at the end of the Kata was in case somebody used her temporarily vulnerability when landing, a blade swirling around her would ward off any opportunistic attack.

After an hour of training, Hana sealed the weapon away and dragged out her puppet. It was a little scuffed up, mostly from the combat practice she put it through, but still retained full mobility. Latching Chakra threads onto each of her fingers, she bound the puppet and twitched it up into a standing position, stretching its arms upwards much like she would when waking up.

With a few idle movements, Hana watched with a smile as the puppet went through a few kicks and punches, very similar to her own fighting style, but different in very important ways. The most obvious change between how she fought versus how her puppet fought was that while she parried and riposted blows, the puppet she would use to completely stop an opponent by allowing small hits if it meant she could land a major blow. Since it was a puppet, slices and minor damage didn't matter, so having a Kunai slip by and slice a little bit into the wood was perfectly fine if the puppet could land a straight punch on the opponent.

Looping her strings about, she set the puppet to work pummeling a tree, controlling it in its repetitive Kata unconsciously as she kicked back and sat down with her back to a tree. Pulling out a scroll, Hana unsealed her Fuinjutsu supplies and a thin sheet of fabric to place them on. Finally, she dragged out her drawing board, plopping it on her legs and grabbing a brush.

As she gnawed gently on the edge of the brush thinking of what kind of seal she wanted to draw, she became aware of a presence approaching her. At first she ignored it, but as it came closer and closer she looked away from her still-empty scroll paper to see the merchant they were escorting just...looking at her. "Uhh, yo. Need somethin'?" She asked with a tilted head.

"I just wondered why you were...out here looking at blank paper. Are you by chance an artist perhaps?" The merchant asked, a polite smile on his lips.

"Oh no, not really, I'm a Fuinjutsu user." She quickly said, rubbing her neck with one hand and spinning her brush with the other. "Though I guess I'm not that bad at drawing, I've just never liked looking at my own art, always looks bad to me." She said as she shrugged. "Then again, I hear most people who aren't narcissists think their work isn't very good. Me, I reckon I'm probably an Echoist." The man just looked confused. "Right, uhh, an Empath maybe is a good example? I dunno."

"Right." The man said after a few moments. "Do you mind if I have a look at your work?"

Hana just reached into her scroll-bag and fiddled about for a moment before unfurling another scroll and tossing it to the man. "Oh right...uhh, I kinda forgot you can't just unseal stuff." She reached a hand out, making a vague grabby motion, and the man gave the scroll back after looking at it for a moment. With a puff of smoke, a small stack of scribbled-on scrolls appeared, and Hana lifted them all off her storage scroll, packing it away in her bag and handing the pile to the man. "There ya go. Like I said, they aren't very good in my eyes."

Not to say they looked horrible. With her need for flawless calligraphy when drawing seals, Hana spent a heck of a lot of time practicing her writing. It helped that her hands were markedly steady, a far cry from her naturally-twitchy hands in the old world. If she held her hands out and extended her fingers, normally she'd expect all her digits to twitch randomly, but now, they remained perfectly still.

This made perfect drawing impossible for her before, but in the new world, her hands no longer betrayed her. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Hana picked her brush back up and sighed, deciding to simply draw a wide-area general-purpose storage seal, one which would use a tag about three times larger than a standard-yield explosive tag and require a lot more ink. Patting down a corner of the sealing scroll, Hana dipped her brush in the Chakra-activated ink and got to work, beginning from the centre with an Uzumaki-whirlpool to anchor to, then extending out with the familiar black lines, straight to support the Chakra flowing from the centre.

As she lost herself to her ink, she would still occasionally flick her gaze up to the merchant, who was observing her sealing with interest. "So, what is this exact drawing for?" He asked innocently.

"This isn't just a 'drawing', this is a seal. I can understand the confusion though." Flicking her brush out to attach her swirl into the line, she put her brush in her pot. "So, I'm making a storage seal. This-" She pointed at the central swirl. "-is where the Chakra is stored. It acts as the anchor which holds the seal together. Then, we have these straight lines, which are like that because they grant stability, which all run the Chakra from the spiral out to the edges of the seal. Then, they attach into these-" She poked a finger at the complicated and finely-detailed blocks of ink which were connected to the straight lines by swirled ink. "-which act as the item storage. it isn't finished yet, but eventually all these blocks will be interconnected and carefully tuned to form...hmm...think of it like a big three-dimensional block of space held within the confines of this deceptive piece of paper. The more of these storages there are, the larger the 'interior' of this seal is. But this isn't the only way to store things, there are...a scary amount of different configurations for storage alone."

Hana took a breath, smiling at the perplexed man. "Sorry, I just love Fuinjutsu, It's my favourite hobby, even if I'm not good enough to use it in combat yet, outside of snapping down a pre-made tag and activating it. I can do that just fine, but writing seals on the fly isn't something I can do yet. One day though." The man waved her off.

"That's alright, it's clearly a passion of yours. Me personally, I love my own work. Talking with people and trading is both my hobby and my job, which leaves me with an excellently fulfilled life." He nodded to himself and Hana nodded along. It was definitely a good feeling when you loved your work. Hana couldn't really say whether or not she loved her new work considering she hadn't been really 'employed' yet to kill anybody, but she hoped that despite that, she'd continue to enjoy her time. If she didn't, well, she could always disappear and stay away, just hiding within a cave and never using her abilities.

Somehow, Hana doubted her life would let that happen.

* * *

The first warning Hana got that something was up was the minute tensing of Guy's shoulders before he forcibly relaxed them.

It was clear he detected something wrong and was masking his response. Hana wasn't absurdly observant when not using her Sharingan, but even she could see the difference between casual Guy and prepared Guy. Thus, she focused her Chakra sense and smirked when she felt several Chakra signatures on either side of the road ahead of them. They were rather faint and hard to detect, which was why she hadn't unconsciously picked up on them, but they were definitely there.

Going by the reactions of the rest of Guy's team, they hadn't actually noticed anything amiss. Stepping up next to the large Jonin, she gently and nonchalantly elbowed his side, gazing down at the path and flicking her gaze up to see him grin at her before he raised a single finger to his lips. Sighing and nodding her head, she dropped back to her position, ignoring the looks the rest of the team gave her.

When the bandits burst out from the foliage ahead of them, Hana had to resist the urge to face-palm.

She thought they'd at least be smart enough to realize that there were Shinobi guarding this caravan and that they should leave it alone, but apparently not. The allusion to a Bethesda raider rung rather true in describing them. A handful of chipped and worn Tanto, a few Kunai, and one of them, the biggest, had a vaguely looked-after Katana in his grasp. None of them were wearing anything that could be construed as protective, with even the boss clad in pretty tacky garments.

"Give us the goods and we'll let you live." The katana-wielder growled out. Evidently intimidation was the goal, but against trained Shinobi, the bloodlust he let out was literally weaker than living day-to-day within Konoha. Palming a Kunai, Hana made to throw it at him, but was stopped by Guy. Raising an eyebrow in question, he shook his head at her before turning back to the bandit as Hana slid the Kunai back into her pouch and folded her arms.

"I'm afraid to do so would be most unyouthful!" He yelled. "If you would turn yourselves into our custody I can assure you that you will be treated fairly, and it would be most youthful to stop attacking our fair citizens." He claimed, and Hana tried, she did, but she failed to stop herself from face-palming. It was clear the bandits were idiots, they thought taking on three Genin, a Jonin, and her was something they could do. Her thoughts were proven right when the katana-man let out a wordless yell and charged the Jonin.

The spandex-wearing man easily side-stepped the blow, but the attack rung the bell for all the other bandits to charge at the Genin. "Tenten, can you look after the client for us please?" Hana quickly asked, throwing a glance over her shoulder to see the girl nodding at her. Drawing her Naginata, Hana settled into her stance, steadying her heart and locking her eyes onto the closest bandit, a brown-haired man with a tiny scar under his eye and a pair of Kunai, one in each hand.

"Tch." She spat out. Two weapons would be a little irritating to get around, since the man could use one to threaten her while the other kept the point of her weapon away from himself. Jabbing her blade forward, the man swung...both his Kunai at it. Perplexed, Hana took a step back, freeing her blade and warding him off with the point. Either he just wanted to get within her reach by using his Kunai as disposable weapons and engaging her in Taijutsu, or he was an idiot.

Kicking forwards, Hana thrust again, weaving her blade around one Kunai and smacking it hard into the other, knocking it from the bandit's grip and slicing into his hand, drawing a pained scream. Before he could do anything to counter her Hana spun her weapon around as she removed it from his hand, stepping forward with her weapon held rigidly as she swung the blade up, catching him from under his armpit, cleaving him neatly across the chest with the blade breaking through several ribs in the strike before halting.

As soon as the weapon stopped moving, Hana wrenched it out hard, cutting more of his body as she drew it to block a downward swing of a Tanto. Rolling her weapon around so it was above the blade, she shoved down hard, drawing the man towards her when he didn't let go of his weapon and headbutting him. As he stumbled backwards and let go of the Tanto, Hana swept his legs out and caught him in the throat with an upswing, looking away before she could see the aftermath and focusing on another bandit.

Stepping to the side, Hana jabbed the butt of her weapon to the space she was occupying a moment ago, conking a second, more opportunistic bandit, in the head before bringing her blade over and behind her head, then swinging it about and decapitating the man, finally leaving the bloodied weapon pointing directly towards her initial target. Said man looked fearful of her, and rightly so. At some point during the maybe twenty-second scuffle, she had activated her Sharingan, and coupled with her bloody weapon, she made a rather terrifying sight.

What Hana did not expect was for him to suddenly find his courage and charge at her, raising his Tanto above his head and yelling at the top of his voice. With a confused look Hana settled her feet and, when the man was close enough, simply thrust her Naginata directly into her wide-open chest, stabbing straight through his ribs and into his heart, the guard of her weapon forcibly stopping his body from getting closer to her.

As the now lifeless body fell from her weapon, Hana was afforded a few moments to glance about. A single body was near Tenten, a few weapons enbedded in its chest. Lee was surrounded by bandits with bloodied faces and bruises on a lot of their exposed skin. Neji left seemingly untouched opponents, but it looked as though none of them were breathing. And Guy had long-since dealt with the bandit leader and was simply observing them all. When his eyes fell on Hana, he gave her a sad smile before flashing his teeth and giving her a thumbs up.

With a sigh, Hana flicked her blade, clearing some of the blood off, before she saw another bandit emerge from the tree-line, and she froze up. The bandit was a boy. He couldn't have been older than her new life body. She'd accepted she would be killing people, and it seemed as though she was doing just fine so far, but...she forgot that other combatants might be just as young as she was.

The moment of hesitation was enough for the bandit to close the distance and try to strike at her. Her reflexes kicked in and with a single motion she parried the blow and sliced straight into his neck, unfortunately cutting too deeply and hitting the carotid artery in his throat, prompting a rather directed arterial spray to hit her directly in the face.

Shuddering, Hana watched as the boy staggered, remaining standing for a moment or two with blood still pouring from his opened throat before he collapsed bonelessly, leaving Hana shaking slightly and looking at his unmoving corpse. A footstep behind her prompted Hana to whirl around, her blade at the ready, and almost took Guy's head off before she froze. "Sorry." She quickly muttered, wiping the blood from her face and refusing to turn around and see that corpse again.

"It's fine." He replied, none of his usual exuberance to be seen. "It appears that was the last of these bandits. Come, let's get you cleaned up." Guy replied calmly, walking away from Hana and towards the merchant and his wagon. With a nod to herself, Hana started walking towards Guy.

To her credit, Hana managed at least a few steps before she threw up violently.

* * *

**Yeesh.**

**Yeah, Hana isn't a lucky girl. Her first fight and she accidentally severs someone's carotid artery. Even worse it was a kid, barely her age. Fighting adult raiders who probably chose their life? Hana can justify that. But a kid? Someone her age, who couldn't choose something else? That's harder for her to do. But, it's done now.**

**Bit of a disclaimer, I kinda suck at writing people dealing with mental problems like a first kill. So, Hana is probably not gonna deal with it in a realistic way, this is just how I THINK I'd react to taking lives like that. Don't forget, Hana has been trained to be a Shinobi and steadily acclimatized to the idea of killing being an acceptable action over the course of more than a decade.**

**But, whatever. Hope you're enjoying this boos!**


	24. Chapter 24

**War-Dog is a goddamn trip to write.**

**Seriously, I feel for those people who write Gamer-ability stories. Writing those stats and stuff is seriously hard to do, and deciding skills and whatnot...I'll never complain about Playing our Roles coming out only once a month ever again, it's really fucking hard to write that stuff.**

_**Chapter 24**_

* * *

Taking a swig of water, Hana looked over the village they were in with keen eyes.

After their bandit encounter, Guy had taken her aside and given her this whole speech about how she did it for the village and all that guff, but Hana found herself oddly uncaring. In the end, she reasoned that the boy could have decided to simply surrender. But instead, he tried to attack her and signed his own death-warrant in the process. The whole reason she vomited was that, believe it or not, getting coated from head to toe in someone else's blood was not a pleasant experience.

She supposed in her old world she'd probably be called a Sociopath, since she would care if she indirectly hurt Sasuke or Kurami, but when it was someone she didn't know or care about, she simply couldn't be bothered to care. It was a bit strange, but then again, Hana's new life could be summed up as strange quite easily. Twirling a Kunai in her hand, she ignored Lee's yammering, she ignored Tenten fawning over her Naginata, and ignored Neji's ignoring of them all.

Instead, she thought about things.

Things like what the fuck was even going on anymore. Her plan was to leave the village and roam, yet she ended up gravitating straight back into it. Sure, she had more freedom now, but she was still basically a Konoha Kunoichi. Rubbing her ear, she unsealed her puppet, making it wander about aimlessly in circles, occasionally kicking at the dirt beneath its feet. And therein lied the question.

_'What do I even want right now?'_

Hana's eyes widened as she realized her problem. She didn't have a project to work on. Her Matchlock was finished, all she needed to do was test it on someone. The only thing she was doing with Fuinjutsu was also practically finished. Her puppeteering was now pretty damn solid, so while she could keep practising, she didn't really need to. The more she thought on it, the more she realized she didn't have a goal.

"Hey, Tenten?" The girl in question looked over at Hana. "What's your goal? For being a Kunoichi I mean?"

She hummed for a moment before shrugging. "I guess I want to be like Tsunade-hime. I mean, what Kunoichi doesn't? She's strong, she can save lives or take them with ease, plus she was, and still is, a Sannin." Hana raised an eyebrow. She'd heard of Tsunade of course, but last she heard the woman was away from Konoha getting wasted in bars and racking up gambling debts. Of course, most people didn't know that, but she did.

"Hmm, that's a decent enough goal. What about after that?" Tenten frowned. "I mean, sure, you get as strong as Tsunade, then what?"

The girl didn't really have much to say, so she just shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'd just want to make sure I'm always strong enough to protect those I care about. I don't care about being a Hokage or an ANBU or anything. I just don't want to ever watch someone I care about fall and die just because I wasn't strong enough to protect them." She finally said with a firm nod, looking towards her team with a smile.

Hana could appreciate that. Really, she could, but it wasn't exactly a goal she could get behind. Sasuke had Kakashi, and to a lesser extent Sakura and Aratamete, to keep him safe. Gaara had Shukaku, and was in the middle of Suna. Kurami had...oh. "I think I've found who I want to protect. Thanks Tenten!"

The girl was rightfully confused, but merely waved at Hana when she darted off to go do something.

* * *

"Come on, this has to work." Hana shouldered her Matchlock as she muttered and aimed it at a target she'd conjured up within her mindscape.

She really did intend to figure out what the limits of her inner world were, because the rules seemed to not make much sense, at least to Hana. Despite being conjured from her mind, Hana was able to interact with the target. When she touched it, it felt like wood. When she hit it with a Kunai it would chip like a target should. But the weirdest part was when she tried to remove it...and succeeded. She took a wood-chip from her mind, and somehow brought it out of her mindscape and into the world itself.

The implications were rather staggering, but as Hana couldn't actually conjure anything advanced from her old world like proper guns or vehicles, it wasn't completely ground-breaking. It was still terrifying to think about, and Hana didn't really know exactly how it worked, but it was pretty cool none-the-less.

With a few moments steadying her breathing, Kurami watching nearby with an adorable set of specially-made ear-muffs on her head, Hana pulled the trigger and was surprised by the lack of recoil in the rifle when it went off. Looking at the target, Hana frowned when she couldn't see any impact, and quickly tilted her Matchlock down to look into the chamber.

The ball was still in the barrel, and plopped to the floor when she lowered the tip of the barrel. Evidently not enough black powder had been used. Racking her brain, Hana smacked her forehead as she remembered what she missed, quickly picking the bullet up. Taking ahold of the gun, Hana pulled out the smouldering match-cord from the Serpentine lock, putting it into the Kunai pouch on her thigh, then pulling the black powder pouch from her scroll-bag and held it before her.

Twisting open the pan-guard, she blew away the last vestiges of powder from the previous shot, pouring in just enough powder that it reached the top, swiping a finger across the top of the powder, pushing the excess back into the bag, then re-sealing the pan. But, unlike before, where she simply put the bullet into the end of the gun and rammed it down, she poured extra powder, about the same as was in the pan, down the barrel, chasing it with the musket ball before replacing the pouch in her satchel and taking the ram.

After ensuring the ball was pushed all the way to the powder, Hana then glanced at Kurami to make sure she still had her sensitive ears protected, before raising her Matchlock up again, aiming at the target and firing. This time, a black hole immediately appeared in the target. While Kurami began yipping about, Hana quickly removed the match-cord from the rifle, making doubly sure the thing couldn't fire again, before laying it down on the ground, just in time to catch Kurami.

**"You did it! That was awesome, how'd it do that?" **Kurami yammered quickly, and Hana chuckled as she re-arranged the fox in her arms.

"Well, I'm sure I can spend the time for my favourite fox to explain, but are you sure you want that?" The fox tilted her head before slowly nodding. "Right, so the black powder stuff essentially all explodes, and because an explosion tries to expand, it tries to do that within the breech of my gun. But, because the only way it can go is past the ball I put inside, it pushes the ball out with a lot of force. The ball then continues on and hits the target with a lot of force in a tiny area."

Kurami just giggled lightly. **"So it's like an earth bullet, but way more powerful?" **Hana stopped and stared at the fox, burying her forehead in the foxes fur and whining softly.

"Why didn't I think of...wait, hang the fuck on." Hana squinted her eyes. The Jutsu was called bullet, but there were no gunpowder weapons anywhere in the Elemental Nations. Sitting down, Hana gently rubbed her fingers between Kurami's ears, raising her neck slightly and letting the fox put her head under Hana's chin as her hand migrated to Kurami's back.

**"Uhh, Hana-chan, is something wrong?"** Kurami murmured between pets, and Hana just gave the fox a smile, nuzzling their noses together.

"Not anymore."

* * *

Jiraiya was not having a good day.

First, he got actually ordered back from his information gathering in Frost Country by Hiruzen without an explanation. Not requested or asked, the missive from the elderly Kage explicitly ordered him to return to Konoha post-haste. When he arrived, he met with the man in his typical fashion, only to be told he had to wait within some random apartment building for...something.

His sensei was suspiciously coy, and Jiraiya didn't like it one bit. But, like a good Shinobi, he followed the order, lounging comfortably on the sofa within the apartment and idly flicking through his notes. For five minutes. Then fifteen. Thirty. An hour passed and nothing happened.

By this point, Jiraiya had already read through his notes and scribbled out or changed parts of the entire thing, now he was getting a little impatient. His time could be being spent in an Onsen doing his research, but isntead he was stuck in this two-bedroom apartment with nothing to do. Throwing his arms up in the air, he decided to go rooting around.

First order of business, what was the state of the kitchen? Answer? Perishables that hadn't gone off, so the place was either stuff occupied or being deliberately restocked regularly. Several plates lay beside the sink with scraps of sauces and tiny flecks of food, no mould on them. So someone was eating in the place recently. There was a pan on the stove in much the same condition, a tiny bit of residue left from the last-cooked meal, but no mould growing.

Pushing open the door to one room, he frowned when he saw how plain it was. A writing desk was in the corner with a few neatly-stacked papers to one side, ink brushes clean and lined up beside a few pots of ink. There were no clothes on the floor, so presumably based on this and the fact the bed was perfectly made, whoever was here either lived in the other bedroom with no other occupant, or was a neatness freak.

Closing the door behind him, he walked to the other room and opened the door, almost immediately tripping on a rolled-up scroll just inside the room. A quick glance around, and he could tell whoever lived in that room was the perfect opposite to the other room's occupant. There were at least a dozen fully-rolled scrolls strewn across the floor, a few skirts, mesh-shirts, bras, tank-tops and other items of clothing on the floor, so presumably the occupant was female. Either that, or really like cross-dressing.

The bed looked like the idea of being made was a long-forgotten dream, the desk was covered in strewn papers, more scrolls and at least a dozen brushes, some stuff with ink on their tips, sat beside a pyramid of empty ink pots, a few full ones beside it. So either someone who does a lot of writing, or more likely a Fuinjutsu user. A scroll Jiraiya accidentally stepped directly on caught his attention and he un-rolled it on a whim, looking at the intricate lines and swirls with a keen and experienced eye.

"So, a storage scroll, with five meters by ten meters for dimensions, two extra seals for stability also preventing an accidental Chakra rebound trying to insert too many items. Uzumaki-style swirl for stability there, there and there..." Jiraiya quickly lost himself in his mutterings, examining the seal with glee at the prospect of having another seal-master to talk with. The last one she spoke to was Minato, and the kid had died over a decade ago. While Hiruzen was a competent seal-user, he wasn't a master-level, having learned seals but never truly applied himself to the art.

Say what you will about the Professor, but he didn't have infinite time to learn, so had to choose his battles, and Fuinjutsu he left to his student. Of course, Jiraiya had his toads to help him with it, but it was still nice to know his Sensei trusted him with learning enough Fuinjutsu to help the village when necessary. Rolling the scroll back up, Jiraiya placed it on the desk, reaching for another.

Of course, it was this moment that Hana emerged from her seal, cross-legged and with her eyes closed on her bed. As she opened her eyes to see Jiraiya, she yelled. Loudly. And with many nearby objects being thrown at him, none of which were actually dangerous to the Sannin. "GET OUT! IDIOT! PERVERT! BASTARD!" Each word was punctuated by an object or three, and while outwardly Hana was furious and embarrassed, inwardly she and Kurami were rolling about laughing their asses off at the absolutely terrified look on the Sannin's face as he fled her room and slammed the door.

Kurami noticed the instant the Sannin entered the apartment, and after a few minutes passed and he hadn't left, she informed Hana, who just continued with her reading and asked Kurami to tell her if he did anything weird. As he entered Sasuke's room, she told Hana this, and she stopped reading, a lot more focused as Kurami told her that he was moving around a little, but she couldn't really tell what he was doing.

Then he entered Hana's room, and all bets were off. With Kurami's eager assistance, they waiting until the opportune moment before the Jinchuriki popped out of her seal, and caused the aforementioned scene. When the door shut, she threw another object for good measure, banging against the door loudly and making the White-Haired man yelp in surprise when the door rattled.

Letting a grin slip on her face, Hana quickly checked to make sure the man hadn't fucked anything up in her room, quickly replacing the scroll he moved back in its rightful place on the floor. Despite how it looked, Hana liked how her room was since she could tell someone exactly where everything was, even without her Sharingan. It actually reminded her of a funny image she saw in her old world, where someone asked if they had a paperclip and the person replied that it was on the floor by their filing cabinet.

As long as her shit wasn't moved by people, she could happily recall exactly where it all was, down to each individual scroll on the floor. Call it weird, but it worked, so that was all that mattered to Hana. Throwing her door open, she saw the man actually sat down calmly on the sofa, watching her with a seemingly laid-back disposition, but he was still subtly tensed and ready if she did something.

Throwing her hands onto her hips, she leaned forward and glared at him. "So, what the fuck are you doing here?" The man looked genuinely confused for a few moments.

"Would you believe me if I said I honestly don't know aside from the Hokage telling me to come here?" Hana glanced between his eyes a few times and sighed, collapsing onto the other chair with a sigh.

"Of fucking course you are. Let me guess, you're someone in the know about certain things and can actually be fucking trusted around me?" Jiraiya looked confused still, but quickly schooled his features as he stood up.

"I'm not just someone in the know. Nor am I just a normal pervert. I'm a super pervert! The name...Jiraiya the Gallant!" Hana just gave him a dead-pan look. "You're kidding. One of the three Legendary Sannin?" He waved at his face for emphasis, but Hana just shrugged. "Author of the Icha-Icha books?!" At this, Hana's face morphed into realization, and as he closed his eyes and grinned, he missed the fist that smashed firmly into his stomach.

"That's for all the times I've had to keep those damned book's away from Sasuke's eyes you pervert." Then patting him on the back, Hana smirked. "And that's for being a fucking good writer. Seriously, some of the scenes get a bit fucking stupid, but overall the story flows well and the porn doesn't feel forced." The man looked at her like she'd grown and extra head, folding her arms and frowning at him. "What? They aren't half-bad books y'know."

The man let out a boisterous laugh, tipping his head back and making clear his amusement. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

* * *

**Next up is probably gonna be the beginning of the Chunin exams, and...I'll be honest, it's probably gonna turn out crap, because for once I have to write about an event I'm honestly not that knowledgeable about.**

**Off the top of my head, I know:**

**The first stage is the written exam, the tenth question is a trick, there's a Genjutsu on the floor. The second stage is in the forest of Death, Sasuke is meant to get the Cursed Mark, Gaara is meant to kill people. There's a preliminary round which excludes some participants, Hinata gets her ass kicked by Neji, Ino and Sakura...knock each other out I think? Anyways, third stage is the tournament. Naruto is supposed to Talk-no-Jutsu Neji into being a better guy, Gaara and Sasuke are meant to fight, Orochimaru invades using the Temple of Nirvana technique, Gaara releases Shukaku to attack the village along with Orochi's snakes, Old Man Hokage dies sealing Orochi's arms within the Shinigami, Suna and Oto are defeated by Konoha.**

**That...can't all happen. Naruto is Hana, and Hana isn't one for Talk-no-Jutsu. Now, a few things will still happen, but the canon has been so screwed at this point I'm left with a Dilemma.**

**I could make canon try to fix itself, forcing certain events to happen despite the statistical improbability of the event happening being absurdly low.**

**Or I could simply go with the flow and screw probably all the important character growth up. What do you guys think? Please, give me your input.**

**Also, is it just me, or is Tobirama just a total hottie? Like, seriously, look at him. Random, I know, but I had to look up Hiruzen for something, and just caught a glimpse of him when looking through Hokage's and...yeah, I need to write him into something at some time.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Shorter Chapter, I know, but...I WANT TO PUNCH MYSELF IN THE FUCKING FACE!**

**I hate myself so much right now. Kurami...poor sweet baby, she only has HALF OF HER FUCKING CHAKRA LAHAHAHA! How did I fucking forget that Minato literally sealed her Yin chakra within himself using the Dead Demon Consuming seal? I really...I'm so tempted to just say fuck it, Chakra magic bullshit and she isn't essentially...cut...in...half...Heeeeeeey.**

**I have a new sticking point for why Hana can hate her parents even more. Hey Jiraiya, stop masturbating over there and come be my scapegoat...**

**Also, I might speedrun through the Chunin Exams a little and pause this story soon. I promise it'll only be a pause, not a stop like Alagaesian Anomaly, but I do think pausing this story for a few weeks would be a good idea.**

_**Chapter 25**_

* * *

"So, why is Jiraiya actually here?"

Hana crossed her arms and stared at the Hokage, Jiraiya stood behind her with his own arms folded. Watching the man puff his pipe, Hana narrowed her eyes. "Hokage-sama, seriously, why's he here?" The man puffed on his pipe a few more times before removing it from his lips.

"He is here for the express purpose of training you." He said bluntly.

"Training me? Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but why? Not that training with a Sannin isn't helpful, but I've already made clear my only loyalty lies with Kurami and Sasuke. Besides, I planned to leave the village in a week to go back to Suna. I can come back at a moment's notice, but the point remains, why do you even want to train someone who is such a flight risk?" The man let out a sigh, and Hana watched as he let his age fully show.

Standing from his desk, he beckoned Hana over as he looked out his window. "I'm old, Hana-chan. And I can feel it. Something is coming. With my age, I'm worried that whatever it is will be beyond my strength to beat. Which is why I hope to entrust the Will of Fire to you and the younger generation. That is why I requested that you always be open to being recalled in defence of Konoha. I'd like you to remain in the village for the next month and a half to take part in the Chunin exams."

Hana opened her mouth to argue that she didn't care about a stupid rank, but he beat her to it. "Remember that the increased rank means higher-level missions, which I hear you've been getting exasperated about, as Guy's team only take C-ranks or D-ranks. And I'd like to promote you to a Jonin, but to do so straight from Genin might be taken as favouritism of some kind, considering you haven't achieved anything drastic of note which the public could see. Certainly, you have the skills for it, but you've not been seen anywhere near enough for the promotion to be seen as reasonable. Some may even take their inferiority out on you if they have been trying for Jonin and failed where you seem to just get a free-pass to outrank them." Hana nodded, putting a hand to her eyes.

"Fine, fine! I'll take a stupid exam. Just one tiny little question." The man looked at her, and she waved a hand behind her at Jiraiya, who had migrated to the couch and was perversely giggling over his notes. "Why do you want me to be trained by that pervert?" The man looked affronted and stood up.

"I'm not just a pervert." The wide grin the idiot sported made Hana roll her eyes. "I'm a Super Pervert!"

"Whatever. Point is, why do I need to be trained by that idiot? I am fairly confident in my Fuinjutsu skills, my Taijutsu is pretty good as well, I know a decent number of Ninjutsu, and my biggest weakness in the three main skills in Genjutsu, which I don't particularly want to use anyway, I'm not creative enough to come up with convincing illusions." She admitted with a shrug.

The white-maned man came over and tried to sling his arm over Hana's shoulders, but a quick duck and swipe made him stumble into the window, bouncing off the glass. "So you'd refuse being trained by one of the Three Sannin?" The Hokage asked from beside Jiraiya, who was now sliding down the glass to end up slumped on the floor.

"Look. I just want to know what he'd actually be teaching me in." She looked between the two men with a frown. "And if you tell me he's gonna try and train me to take Kurami's chakra, I'm going to burn his fucking notes."

As he stood, Jiraiya let his jovial and perverted personality slip away, becoming more serious as he looked at Hana. "In everything necessary. I was informed you know of your parentage?" Hana just nodded, far more interested in this version of Jiraiya than his idiotic facade. "Well then, your father was trained by yours truly. Most of what he learned came from me, then took it further. For example, the Hiraishin. I taught him some of what Tobirama's seal did, then he went and made his own seal key, essentially creating an off-shoot version of the Jutsu." Hana stared at him for a moment before laughing. "What?"

"It's...it's just funny. So mine isn't even an offshoot, it's an offshoot of an offshoot. Cool." Both men stared at Hana. "Oh, right. yeah, I kinda reverse-engineered the Hiraishin. To be honest, I used it right in fucking front of you and Kakashi, how did you not figure it out?" The man rubbed the back of his head through his robes.

"We thought that was just an over-powered Shunshin. Tell me, have you ever heard of an Uchiha called Shisui of the Body Flicker?" Hana shook her head. "A shame. He was a remarkably talented for his age, most notably in his Shunshin usage. he was so swift and adept with the technique he could create tangible after-images. He simply presumed you had learned the Shunshin and trained with it far more than most. To think that was actually the Hiraishin...you say you reverse-engineered it?"

Hana pulled one of her pronged Kunai out and twirled it around her finger. "Yep. I found one of my fathers Kunai in a forest and took it home. Spent years working on it, but I still managed it." She then put her Kunai away again, much to Jiraiya's dismay. "Nu-uh, not happening, don't even ask." She then stuck her tongue out. "Besides, unlike my father's seals, these bad boys have defence mechanisms in them. If someone tries to meddle with it, the ink liquifies and completely destroys the seal. Same for someone who tries to move it somewhere other than where it was. Only exceptions are those who are on my seal-key, and I'm pretty much 100% confident that nobody can get to it."

"Well, besides that, I don't want to train you in 'taking' the chakra of the one housed within your seal. As I understand it, you and she are in a relationship of sorts, which means surely she would be willing to lend assistance when necessary? Such as using her own Chakra to supplement your own." Hana shook her head. "Why not?"

"We've tried that. Her Chakra is far too massive for my coils. If we tried to push some out, there's a good chance that my coils would rupture and I'd explode from my Chakra leaking out." The man palmed his chin, resting his elbow on his knee.

"Have you tried acclimatizing yourself to it? Having a small portion, not enough to be dangerous but still enough to hurt, and then slowly building that amount up?" Hana just shook her head again.

"We've been doing that pretty much ever since I discovered Kurami, she uses a tiny bit of her Chakra to essentially inflate my coils, expanding them at a pretty overwhelming rate. The problem is when she tries to put more than a certain ratio of my chakra versus her own, it clashes, and hers always wins, at which point she has to recede it before it basically sets fire to my coils and kills me. Her Chakra is far stronger than my own." Jiraiya made a realizing noise.

"I see." He then stood up, and pointed at her. "That's incorrect however." Hana raised an eyebrow at the man. "Your coils wouldn't rupture if her own chakra overpowered yours. It'd hurt a lot, sure, but your passive regeneration from being Uzumaki and Jinchuriki would stop it from doing permanent damage. The biggest problem would be that the Chakra would influence you, making you more feral and fox-like. As I don't know what this...Kurami-chan's personality truly is, I couldn't say exactly how you'd act, but you would certainly be more animalistic."

Hana frowned. "So, what? We should let her essentially overpower my own Chakra with hers, then figure out what changed in me so I can work on making sure I at least try to stifle those impulses?" The Sannin nodded. "Right. That sounds pretty...dangerous, but also scarily powerful. I mean, I tried using her Chakra for a normal Great Fireball once, and the crater it made was...scary." Hana shuddered as she remembered just how big the fireball actually was, with red lines of Chakra acting like a net and holding the flame together until it impacted the ground and exploded outwards like a bomb.

"Well, right now Kurami only has half of her Chakra anyway, so she's probably over-estimating its danger." The temperature in the room definitely dropped a few degrees when he mentioned that. Slowly, Hana turned a lidded gaze towards Jiraiya.

"Explain." She said calmly, her face very carefully held in a neutral expression, even if her eyes held many promises of pain.

"W-well, Minato sealed Kurami using the Dead Demon Consuming seal. However, he didn't seal her entirely within you. I don't profess to know exactly what was going through his head at that moment, but there are certain ways to release such a seal, and he probably didn't want that much power to be so readily available to those who had that knowledge. Or maybe he simply didn't have enough time or energy to do such a thing." The Sannin shrugged, wilting slightly under Hana's frigid gaze. "So he sealed some of Kurami within his own soul, then when it was taken by the Shinigami, it became practically inaccessible."

With a sigh, Hana tamped down on her rage, though she could feel Kurami was also rather angry at this whole situation. "So, you're telling me that my father basically just ripped Kurami into two separate pieces, taking one half of her Chakra away from her and leaving her with...what?"

"He sealed the Yin portion of Chakra into himself, the spiritual side of her. Her physical side is still with you, which is why you heal so quickly when paired with your Uzumaki side, but her Spiritual side is sealed within the Shinigami I'm afraid."

Looking between Jiraiya and the Hokage, Hana let a growl slip from her lips before she just gave up and slumped onto a sofa. "Move over." She muttered, twisting her head to look at the other side of the sofa. A moment passed before a shimmer seemed to simply appear then stood up from the sofa quickly and darted off elsewhere in the room, letting Hana put her feet on the other half of the sofa and lay there. "I honestly didn't think it was possible, but I hate the man even more now."

If it wasn't so infuriating for Hana to hear, it would have been amusing how many curse-words Kurami was creatively using to describe the man who fathered her.

* * *

"Aneue...what the hell is...that?"

With a finger pointed firmly at the weapon, Sasuke looked between the object and Hana in confusion. "This? Oh well, this is just a little project of mine I wanted to test out." Grinning, Hana gestured at the forest before them with a wave of her hand. "And what better time than when we're in the middle of a combat environment like...this? I can use it on any target I want with absolutely no repercussions, it's perfect."

The first stage was pitifully easy. The building was rigged with a Genjutsu which swapped the floor numbers but her Sharingan put an easy stop to that nonsense. The exam itself was pretty much completely impossible to actually complete by herself, but Hana spotted several Shinobi scattered throughout the room who already had completed tests. It was child's play to just copy what they'd written using the visual acuity of her Sharingan.

The final question was a little bit hairy to consider, but all it took was a few moments for her to realize it was a bluff. Konoha could certainly stop their Shinobi from becoming Chunin forever, but they had absolutely no say in other villages. Since it wasn't worded any differently, presumably it was meant to be a big fake-out question of some kind. That assumption turned out correct, and at the end of the exam a woman burst into the room with a dramatic entrance, a banner unfurling and everything, before getting into an argument with Ibiki, introducing herself as Anko, and guiding them all to the Forest of Death.

Placing the weapon back into a seal, Hana looked around at the sceptical looks the surrounding Genin were giving her. It was pretty useful just how...lackluster her Matchlock looked, since it was bound to be underestimated, and that was where its strength lay. The ball literally flew faster than the speed of sound, and Hana had experimented with making a buckshot version, firing several dozen tiny balls instead of one slug.

The effects it had on trees was rather vicious, shredding the bark and while not penetrating, still going deep enough to do some serious damage. "Just...don't use it on us, please?" Sasuke asked sheepishly, a sentiment Sakura shared. Their third member seemed to be somewhere else at that moment, which was confusing, but Hana ignored that in favour of ruffling Sasuke's hair.

"Aww, I'd never do that to you Otouto. Sakura on the other hand..." Framing the pinkette in her fingers, Hana made a humming noise. "Huh, I don't know Sasuke-kun, does she still get fangirl tendencies?" Her brother surprisingly enough shook his head. "Okay, then no. I don't really know much about your illusive third member, but I can assume he isn't trying to drag you onto dates?"

With a strangled cough, Sasuke shook his head frantically. "Alright you brats, let's get this show on the road." The woman who had lead them from the first exam suddenly drew everybody's attention to herself. "Behind me-" She jacked a thumb over her shoulder. "-is Training Ground 44, affectionately known as the Forest of Death." One of the shinobi near Hana scoffed, and Hana found the proctor practically staring over Hana's shoulder. "Oh, got something to say tough-guy?"

"Maybe stop trying to fake us all out with this fearmongering crap. Anyone who gets scared of this trash shouldn't even consider being a Shinobi in the first place." The man spat his words out like curses, and Hana had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at his stupid actions.

"Oh? And what if they were choosing to be medic-nin and needed to be Chunin to access necessary scrolls?" Hana retorted easily, looking over her shoulder at the Nin with a grin. "If I recall correctly, the Mystical Palm Technique is an A-rank, reserved for Kage and Jonin level Ninja. Considering the need for the ability, I can see Chunin learning it, but Genin is pushing it a bit far, wouldn't you agree?"

The man looked pretty angry, but a surprise Kunai from Anko skimmed his cheek. "There now, enough of that crap you two. Save your fighting for inside the forest, unless you want to fight me instead." Rolling her shoulders, Hana gave an easy smirk to Anko.

"Couldn't resist."

* * *

**Like I said, shorter chapter.**

**After writing 8k of The Eternal Game in under 24 hours, plus at least 5k between this and War Dog, I feel like a little bit creatively drained right now. So, the following chapters are probably not gonna be as long as you're used to, and I'm sorry for that. But after a few more chapters, I'm going to be taking a break from Hana Nanashi, and just writing War Dog because I still have plenty I want to write for it.**

**I won't take too much of a break, just enough to recharge and maybe wrap up half-written chapters for other stories like Watching Rose, Crimson Dovah, Broken Watch, and other stuff like that.**

**And no, I'm sorry, but Alagaesian Anomaly isn't making a comeback just yet, or potentially ever. I haven't had a chance to read any Inheritance Cycle fanfiction or books, so I still know very little of the world.**


	26. Chapter 26

**I really shouldn't have taken a break. I'm writing this on the 22nd.**

**As in, less than 24 hours before this is meant to go up. I kinda slacked off on writing, and I'm paying the price. Welp, might as well crack on then! Also, uhh, ArchiveOfOurOwn section going up, because...mmm. My relationships go by insanely quickly, but fuck it, I want to write smut of this, so I'm goddamn going to, I don't care if they literally met in this chapter. Here's a link for ya: **

_**Chapter 26**_

* * *

"What the fuck was that?!"

Hana smirked as the red-haired girl of the team screamed, the echoing report of her gun pealing throughout the forest and probably scaring a lot of people. She didn't really want to shoot a Konoha or Suna nin, so she was left picking between the veritable smorgasbord of different villages to attack. Since she didn't know who had which type of scroll, she had to just cross her fingers and guess.

She ended up being given a Heaven Scroll, but since it seemed to be entirely random, it was a pot-luck about whether or not the first team she attacked would have the right scroll. Since the two standing Kusagakure Genin were still in a panic, Hana took the time to reload her weapon, resealing it for later and unsealing a crude puppet she made for just this occasion, affectionately named Hebi.

It was made of sturdy Snakewood, the rippled colouration making the puppet look rather disconcerting, and giving the puppet it's rather uncreative yet still appropriate name. She selected it for the sheer strength the wood had, and while it wasn't easy to obtain, she was relieved to know it did still exist in her new world. Trying to shape it into a puppet was a nightmare, blunting her chisel several times before she was satisfied.

It still looked rather janky and not very well-made with rough-hewn edges and jagged points in some places, but it was meant to take a hit and keep moving, not stand around looking pretty and doing tricks. That was what Kugu was designed for. You could whack at it with a Nodachi and it'd still keep on coming. Hana reasoned the best ways to hand it would be to burn it with a focused Katon Jutsu, or just go for her instead. Of course, to counter this she coated the wood in a liberal mixture of Fire-retardant varnishes, which would immensely increase the puppets survivability even in a flame Jutsu, but not for long.

Wrapping her threads around the puppet, she sent it leaping and flipping through the trees, bringing the wooden construct crashing down hard on one of the two Genin, snapping his spine under the rather notable weight of the puppet. Snakewood weighed a little over 75 pounds per square foot, so considering the puppet was pretty much human in shape, it was around about 1.76 square feet, or about 132.7 pounds.

That wasn't taking into account the lead she had added to the puppet though. The entire inside of Hebi was nothing but lead, giving the puppet an impressive weight, enough to make the snapping of the Genin's spine audible even from where Hana was sat. Suppressing a wince, she nonchalantly sent the puppet flying off the back of the Genin towards the third opponent, only to jerk it back when a colossal bear of all things burst into the clearing, probably drawn by the screaming the two downed Genin were letting out.

"Tch." A mutated bear was a bit irritating, since if it attacked whichever of the Genin were holding the scroll, it might tear the paper apart, and then she'd have to hunt down another, and she just wanted to get this over with so she could go play with Kurami. Hopping towards the area, she sent the puppet charging forwards and sliding under a paw-swipe from the behemoth animal.

Using the wooden puppet to distract the bear, Hana calmly drew her Matchlock out and lined up a shot, aiming it right at the bears head and waiting for...there! Squeezing the trigger, Hana let a ball fly, watching it impact the top of the bears head and get stuck somewhere inside, killing the creature almost instantly. With a yawn, Hana reloaded the gun and put it away again, twitching Hebi over to the third Genin who, quite amusingly, didn't put up a fight as she practically threw the scroll towards the puppet and cowered.

Something about the girl struck Hana as odd and...familiar, so instead of simply wandering off with the scroll, she knelt down near to the girl, still far enough to react before she could attack, but close enough to be easily noticed. "Hey." The girl winced at her voice, and Hana frowned. "You know, I don't actually want to hurt you any more." Watching the girl raise her head and open her eyes to look at her, Hana caught her eyes and smirked. "Hey, we match, fancy that." She pointed at her left eye with a grin.

Blinking owlishly a few times, the girl seemed to take Hana in for a moment before, almost child-like, she outstretched a hand towards her. Raising an eyebrow, Hana put her own hand and clasped it with the girls, quickly hoisting her to her feet. "Now then, you had an earth scroll, so that's handy for me. Sorry about your team-mates, I wanted to test my newest weapons, and-" The glare the red-haired girl gave the two dying Genin was quite surprising.

"Fuck those b-bastards." She said, sobbing slightly at the end as she kicked the nearer Genin.

"O-kay then. Well, iffinya don't mind, since you can't actually pass the test any more with two dying team-mates, and I really don't see a reason not to...aside from the small chance you'd betray me, want to accompany me to the tower?" The girl's eyes honestly seemed to glisten a little as she nodded frantically, her left hand coming up to also grip Hana's hand, and letting her see the dozens of bite marks. "So, what are those?" She asked casually, frowning when the girl winced and pulled away. "Hey, I promise I won't judge. I mean, my own partner can get pretty kinky as well."

The red-haired girl snorted loudly when she said that. "If only. No, these are...I...can I trust you?" Hana just smirked.

"Look, considering it's clear you bloody hate your teammates, and those weren't consensual 'love-bites', I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they...raped you?" She shook her head at that.

"It's not that. It's...I have an ability. When bitten, people can eat my Chakra, and they recover. It leaves semi-permanent marks though. I...my mother died after being forced to overuse the ability, and I was shoved into the sa-" Immediately realizing what was going on, Hana wrapped the girl up in a hug, pressing her head against the girls hair and holding her close.

"I get it." She said clearly, feeling the girl stiffen considerably before relaxing into her grip. "Heh, guess we really do match." She said into her hair, admiring it. Red hair really was fucking awesome. Wait a second..."Hey, what's your name by the way?" Whining slightly into her chest, Hana heard the girl mumble something and unburied her face from where it was pressed, wiping a thumb under her eyes and smiling at her. "I promise I won't judge. Besides, I don't think many people can beat my parents. Not that I wouldn't try to beat them if I encountered them." She growled, startling the girl.

"...K-karin. Uzu-...Uzumaki K-karin." Hana stopped, tilting the girls face up to look closely at her face. "I'm...Uzumaki Karin." She managed to say clearly after a few tries.

Hana was pretty speechless for a moment, before a giggle left her lips and she hugged the girl again. "You aren't lying, are you? You really are...wow. I've fucking said this twice already, we match seriously too well." She pecked the girl on the cheek before leaning back. "Well, it's an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance Uzumaki Karin. I'm Nanashi Hana, formerly Uzumaki Hana." She said with a smile.

Hearing Kurami chime something perverted into her ear, Hana grinned widely. Leaning forward, she whispered into Karin's ear, making her shiver as her breath ghosted her ear. "Though if it means I get to spend time with you, I'd gladly take that name back." She nipped the blushing girls ear, rubbing their cheeks together as she drew back, before she quickly leaned down and hooked an arm around Karin's knees, tipping her over and hoisting her suddenly into a bridal carry.

The already-red girl blushed even brighter, her eyes lidded slightly. Without another word, Hana began bolting across the forest towards the tower, with Kurami letting her Chakra slip so they could get there faster, and accidentally exposing Karin to a mostly-unsuppressed Hana. The pair, of course, had no clue that Karin was a sensor, and she mewed, burying her face into Hana's body as she felt the dark-red haired girl's Chakra, warm and inviting, wash over her. She sensed a second signature much like the first, though it was far more powerful but seemingly hidden, buried within Hana.

Not giving Karin much time to enjoy her Chakra, Hana covered the forest in record-time for a Genin, zipping straight into the tower and almost bowling a certain tanuki-looking boy over. "Gaara!" She chirped, setting Karin down, who tried to stay standing but collapsed to her knees with a dazed moan. Sweeping the boy up into a hug, she grinned when she saw him actually react pleasantly.

He didn't try to hug her or anything, but his lips curled up a little, and his sand only threatened Hana a tiny bit before settling back down when it recognized her. "Hello Hana, I'm glad to see you are well."

"Ahh, I see Rasa has been making sure you can understand us puny mortals better, that's good. Now, as much as I'd love to catch up, we do have a month between this phase and the tournament for a chat, and I have a...ahem...acquaintance I want that cutie over there-" She waved a hand at Karin, who was still gazing at Hana with a strange expression. "-to meet. So, what's say we catch up later?" When Gaara raised an eyebrow she pointed at her stomach, leaping him to nod slowly in realization. "Great, I'll see you around!"

Hana was about to set off before she remembered she was meant to open her scroll upon arrival. Quickly unsealing the Heaven and Earth scrolls from her back, she plonked the Earth one on the ground and unrolled the Heaven one, only to be surprised when Jiraiya appeared in front of her. "Ahh, Gaki, you passed then?" He said quickly, looking down at the Earth scroll before his gaze caught on Karin, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Found an Uzumaki as well. She doesn't like her village, so I'm keeping her. Just gonna pretend she died during the exam, nobody needs to know. Hush hush stuff, right?" She grinned and pointed at her seal, making Jiraiya's eyes widen. It was actually quite smart for the Gaki, at least if she was proposing what he was thinking.

Rubbing his chin, he nodded. "I'll have to ask Hiruzen-sensei about it, but Kusagakure can't kick up much of a fuss if the corpses were all lost within the Forest of Death, perhaps during a stray Katon Jutsu? And I assume she'll be residing within your seal for the time being?" She nodded quickly, licking her lips.

"Yeah, I want to introduce her to...someone special anyway." She said with a grin.

"Well, you seem to be eager, so I'll leave you to it." With that, he Shunshin'd away, and Hana quickly scooped Karin up, noticing the rather amusing noises she made when she was lifted up, and quickly darted off to a secluded room, closing the door and dropping a silencing and barrier seal for good measure.

As Karin opened her mouth to ask Hana what she was doing, Hana turned her gaze on Karin and released ALL of her Chakra. Not the happy-go-lucky gaze she had during their brief chat, or the plain face she had when dealing with the bear, this was much, MUCH colder. "Karin-chan, this is very important. I'm about to show you...two, maybe three things that should remain secret under almost any circumstances. I warn you now, if you tell anybody about these without my permission...you'll not like the consequences. I don't want to have to ask this in the first place, but...you don't plan to betray my trust do you Karin-chan?"

Not trusting her words, Karin merely nodded, closing her eyes and taking a moment to bask in Hana's unfiltered Chakra. A soft feeling on her lips bade her to open her eyes wide as she saw Hana's face a scant few centimetres from her own, their lips pressed together. As Karin leaned back in surprise, Hana leant forwards, caressing one of her cheeks with her hand as she kept her eyes locked onto Karin's drooping eyelids.

After a few moments, Hana drew away, smirking when Karin tried to unconsciously follow her mouth. "Now now Karin-chan, before we do anything else, I need to show you these two things." As Karin whined slightly, Hana dropped her henges all at once, hearing the startled gasp from the girl, before a high-pitched squeeing sound came and she found her ears being caressed. "Oh, Kari-OHH!" Karin rubbed a finger right in the crook of her ear, and, while she'd deny it to anyone except Karin and Kurami, she purred.

The two stayed like that for a few moments, Hana unconsciously leaning into Karin's hand as she caressed her ears, before her control snapped back into place as she dejectedly pulled her head away from Karin's hands. "O..okay, wow. I see why cats like that now." Karin smiled at her, and she grinned right back. "But, that's...not the biggest thing. Uhh, just...be open-minded I guess?" She said wit ha shrug, poking Karin on the forehead with a seal she subtly retrieved from her bag and forming a bridge of Chakra to her seal, quickly pulling her into her mindscape and giggling when she came face-first to a considerably up-scaled Kurami.

"Uhh...hi?"

* * *

**AO3 Content from here on. Have a second link, otherwise just continue below: **

* * *

"Mneh..." The noise Karin made was music to Hana's ears, and she kissed the girl once and then again for good measure before planting a kiss on Kurami's head and reluctantly pulling herself from the seal after re-clothing herself. She popped back into the room she disappeared within, taking a look around and frowning.

She wanted to stay within the seal for longer, but she also wanted to make sure she wasn't going to get disqualified or something for randomly disappearing, so she stretched and clicked her back, then opened the door to her room and wandered outside. She looked left and then right, before humming a nonchalant tune to herself and setting off in a random direction.

That was her plan anyway. Pretty quickly, the black-haired boy on Sasuke's team came flying around the corner, almost knocking her straight over. "Oh sorry have you see-" The kid, Aratamete she vaguely recalled, began immediately saying before he actually looked at her properly. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" He yelled, making Hana wince and rub her ears.

"Indoor voice maybe. Jeez, with how loud you were you could wake the fucking dead." The boy gave her an actually furious look, and Hana immediately gave him a hard look. "Who?"

"Sakura. She...took a...a hit, meant for Sasuke, and we aren't allowed to get her any outside medical attention until the end of the second stage." He blurted out, and Hana shook her head.

"Okay, and why would I care? Better yet, why would I need to know? I don't know any Iryo-nin Jutsu aside from the Diagnostic Palm, and I'm fairly sure this 'hit' is probably something major if you're acting like this. But if you think I have some misplaced want to help her, you're wrong. She was a goddamn fan-girl, wasting my and Sasuke's time with her stupidity. Sure, she doesn't deserve to die for it, but as far as I'm concerned, she dug this hole all on her own by spending her time fawning over Sasuke instead of...wait, you say she actually took a hit for him?"

"Yeah, he was about to get hit by some kinda weird biting Jutsu, and she got in the way. The thing is, she's catatonic and in pain, but aside from the...mark it left, there's nothing we can see, that's why I wanted your help." Hana sighed, waving towards the corridor.

"Well, lead the way then. I guess even if I don't particularly like her, she is still a Konoha Genin, so I'm duty-bound to help her." Aratamete stared at her for a few moments, but an insistent wave and a glare got him quickly scurrying through the tower. Throwing open a seemingly random door, Hana saw Sasuke sat down beside a bed staring at Sakura, who was shivering despite the blankets atop her. At first glance, she just seemed cold, but Hana recognized that she wasn't cold, she was in agony.

"Honestly, what were you thinking, stupid girl..."

* * *

**Shorter, I know.**

**I've really dropped in my ability to write this story recently. Might be due to the fact I'm writing 2 Gamer stories, but meh. There'll be a bit more AO3 level content now that Karin's in the picture. I like her alright, she seems like a sweetheart, therefore boom, they're all together now.**

**I know, I know, it's a bit weird and kinda sorta maybe a bit incestuous, but the way I see it is at the very most they are absurdly distant-cousins, and I like the pairing of them together. So there!**

_***EDIT***_

**Hana Nanashi will be going on pause for a little while. Probably only a few weeks at most, but I need a break. War Dog and Eternal Game will get a few more chapters but will likely either slow down a bit or stop completely as well. Sorry for this happening so abruptly, I just need a break.**


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